


unexpected

by klaineanummel



Category: Glee
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Boss/Employee Relationship, M/M, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-09-06 12:18:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 35,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16832464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klaineanummel/pseuds/klaineanummel
Summary: Blaine Anderson was just about the last thing Professor Kurt Hummel expected out of a TA.





	1. athlete

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my Klaine Advent 2018 fic!! As with my past Klaine Advent participations, this will be a complete fic by the end of the advent, rather than a series of one-shots. I'm pretty excited about this one, as it's an idea that I've had bouncing around in my head for quite some time, but have never been able to actually plot out. The ever wonderful mailroomorder helped me with my plot problem, and so here we go! Giving it a shot! :D I'm hoping to catch up as the week goes on, so hopefully I will see you again tomorrow with at least one update :) Hope you all enjoy!!!!
> 
> This chapter is based on the word for day one: athlete!

The day before classes start are always Kurt’s favorite. He loves walking through the already bustling NYU Steinhardt campus, waving hello to return students and smiling kindly to new ones. Freshmen activities are in full swing, which means he always manages to catch some kind of weird, hipster-type thing going on. Student athletes announce intermural games being held in the athletics centre. Nobody is in a hurry yet, so the general air of stress and running around hasn’t permeated the campus.

It’s nice. It’s calm. It reminds him of why he loves his job.

He picks up the pace as a glance at his watch informs him his meeting will begin in only two minutes. He knows that Mercedes, who was one of his TA’s last year, won’t have an issue with him being a few moments late, but he has two new TA’s this year who may not be as forgiving.

Of course, he _is_ technically their boss, but he is also fully aware of the time constraints that graduate students have. He doesn’t want them to feel like he’s wasting their time. At least, not this early in the year. That feeling will come, eventually, as the semester goes on. It’s inevitable.

It takes him five minutes to reach his office, so he’s only three minutes late. Mercedes sees him walking down the hall and turns towards him, a smile on her face.

“You’re almost on time, Professor Hummel!” is how she greets him. “I’m impressed.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he rolls his eyes, but can’t help but smile. He’s thankful to be working with Mercedes again. She was an incredible help to him last year, and her thesis on the importance of the arts (music, in particular) in low income schools is turning out to be quite well done. She’s a hard worker, a caring person, and a wonderful TA.

He turns to the other two people standing with Mercedes, shoving a hand in his pocket to get his office keys. “Hello,” he greets, eyes first on the woman. “You must be Tina Cohen-Chang,” he holds out his other hand to shake hers. She takes it firmly, smiling and nodding in recognition. Once they separate, he turns to the man. “And you must be—”

He pauses, fighting to keep the surprise off his face. The man before him is not what he expected to see. For one thing, he’s significantly older than his other two TA’s. In fact, Kurt wouldn’t be surprised if the man was at least a decade older than himself.

For another, he’s better looking than any other TA Kurt has ever had.

“Sorry,” Kurt says, realizing he’s been staring at the man’s salt-and-pepper hair, and the laugh lines around his (incredibly gorgeous) amber eyes for a bit too long. “You must be Blaine Anderson.”

Blaine reaches out and shakes his hand, pink lips spreading into a warm smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Professor Hummel.”

It feels odd to be addressed so formally by somebody older than himself. All the other professors in his department simply call him ‘Kurt’, and most of his students are significantly younger than his thirty-eight years. Still, despite the desire to, Kurt doesn’t correct him. Professor Hummel is, after all, what he prefers his TA’s to call him.

Kurt looks over the man for another moment, feeling his stomach swoop in a way it hasn’t in some time. He licks his lips as his eyes linger on the man’s sharp jawline, currently covered in the slightest bit of stubble.

He takes a deep breath and turns away, finally managing to pull his keys out of his pocket. _Get it together_ he thinks to himself as he unlocks his office door. _He may be older than you, and ridiculously hot, but he’s still your TA_.

Shaking the feeling of attraction off himself, he pushes the door open and turns back to his three TA’s. He smiles at them, forcing his eyes not to linger too long on Blaine.

“All right, everybody,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows a bit. “Come on in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/180765411570/unexpected-124)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still massively playing catch-up, because this chapter ended up being a bit longer than I expected. Written for the prompt "Cinnamon" from Klaine Advent day 2!! I'm cheating a little and using whichever prompt I like best ;) Hope you enjoy!!
> 
> Oh, and since I am writing this rather quickly and without betaing, I want to apologize in advance for any grammar/spelling errors, as well as errors in terms of NYU’s Steinhardt campus, which I have never been to and have done minimal research on. Sorry!!!!!!!

“Well, it was wonderful to meet you, Professor Hummel,” Tina says from her position by his office door. “I’m really looking forward to working with you this semester.”

“Likewise, Tina,” Kurt smiles at her and raises a hand to wave goodbye. Tina responds in kind and heads out the door.

“I should go, too,” Mercedes says, standing up and slinging her knapsack over her shoulders. “I’m meeting the chair of my thesis advisory board in twenty minutes across campus.” She smiles at Kurt and Blaine in turn. “It was awesome to meet you, Blaine,” she says. Then, she turns to Kurt and says, “And it was wonderful to see you again, Professor Hummel. I’m excited we get to work together again this year.”

“I am, too,” Kurt replies. Mercedes waves at them both, then heads out the door as well, leaving Kurt alone with Blaine.

The man stands once Mercedes is gone, smiling warmly. “I don’t actually have to be anywhere else today,” he says. He tilts his head to the side ever so slightly. “Would you be interested in getting a cup of coffee?”

Kurt’s eyes widen, and he presses his lips together. “Uh, well—”

“I mean, I’d love to get to know you better, Professor Hummel,” Blaine says, clasping his hands together in front of him. “Since we’ll be working together this semester.”

“Right, of course,” Kurt says, nodding, internally rolling his eyes at himself for immediately jumping to the conclusion of _date, he’s asking me on a date_. “Well, I don’t have anywhere to be for another hour, so why not. Sure, let’s grab some coffee!”

“Wonderful,” Blaine says, smiling again, and wow, Kurt needs to get his feelings under control.

The entire meeting, he had to keep reminding himself that Blaine was a _student_ , that Blaine was his _TA_. This wasn’t some beautiful man he’d just happened upon at a coffee shop. He wasn’t a gorgeous profile picture on a dating app. He wasn’t a fellow professor. He was someone that Kurt definitely should not be noticing as much as he is.

Blaine takes the lead as they leave the building, and Kurt shamefully lets his eyes fall down to Blaine’s surprisingly toned ass.

He groans quietly. He can’t believe how difficult he’s finding it to hide his attraction to the older man. Usually he…

Well, he’s never actually been in a situation where he’s had to hide his attraction to someone. At least not for the past twenty years he’s been in New York. Every man he’s been attracted to since moving to the city has been someone it was appropriate for Kurt to be attracted to. He’s never found himself attracted to a TA before, or – thank god – a student.

“How long have you been teaching here?” Blaine asks, breaking Kurt from his thoughts. He’s lagging a little, allowing Kurt to catch up with him so they can walk side-by-side.

“This is my eighth year,” Kurt says. “I actually got this job almost immediately after getting my PhD.”

Blaine whistles lowly. “A professorate offer right out of college? Damn.”

“Well, hey now,” Kurt chuckles, raising his hands up to his shoulders. “I’ve been here for eight years, but only been a full-time professor for three. My first five were me scraping by on a part-time salary, practically begging them to view my research as worthy of their investment. Still,” he says, shrugging a little. “I know I’m lucky to be where I am, so I will still accept your congratulatory ‘Damn’.”

Blaine laughs, and Kurt feels his heart flutter at the sound. Their hands brush against each other where they’re swinging between them. Kurt feels his cheeks heat up a little, and, as casually as he can, he places that hand in his pocket.

Kurt looks ahead, catching sight of the campus Starbucks near them. He glances at Blaine and finds him already looking his way. Those eyes are going to prove a huge problem for him this semester.

“What about you?” Kurt asks, turning back towards the Starbucks logo on the side of the building. “What brings you to Steinhardt?”

He can see Blaine shrugging out of the corner of his eye. “Just wanted a change of pace,” is his reply, though his tone suggests there is far more to the story.

They reach the entrance to the coffee shop and Blaine skips ahead, holding the door open for Kurt. He smiles winningly and says, “After you, professor.”

Kurt’s stomach swoops, but he ignores the feeling. “Thank you very much,” he says instead as he strides into the shop.

He and Blaine join the line, which is thankfully not too long. Kurt shifts so that he’s half-facing Blaine, then says, “Really, though.”

Blaine chuckles, hands going to his pockets. He shrugs again, then says, “Really, I’ve always wanted to study music. I didn’t have the opportunity during my first go at it, and so I figured why not. You only live once, right?”

Kurt raises his eyebrows. “Isn’t YOLO a little 2012?”

Blaine shrugs. “Probably. Slang tends to trickle down a bit slowly to me. My only real connection to it is my kids, and they…” He looks down at his shoes. “Well, it takes some time for it to get to me.”

Kurt licks his lips, hoping this will be the axe to the head of his crush. “You have kids?”

Blaine nods, arms coming up to cross over his chest. “Yeah, two. Jane and Roderick. Twenty-one and sixteen.”

“Wow,” Kurt says, and, unconsciously, finds his eyes drifting to Blaine’s left hand. It’s a necessary habit now that he’s in his late thirties, but not something he should be doing to a student.

His heart does a little flip when he sees Blaine’s ring finger is bare. He tells his heart to cut it out.

“Yeah,” Blaine says. “Actually, Jane is just starting her senior year at the main NYU campus.” He smiles wistfully. “When I originally decided to come back to school, I had hoped we’d be able to go to school together, but the Music Business Major was only available through this campus, so.”

“That’s too bad,” Kurt says. “That it didn’t work out.”

“Ah, well,” Blaine shrugs, face deceptively nonchalant. “I’m sure she’s glad in the end. I doubt she would have wanted her old man hanging around during her last year of college.”

“Next,” the cashier calls, and they step up to order their drinks. Blaine orders a medium drip, while Kurt opts for a non-fat mocha because, what the hell, he’s developing a crush on his goddamn TA. He deserves the splurge.

They each pay for their drinks and then step to the side to wait.

They’re silent for several minutes, casually looking around the small coffee shop. It’s quaint, for a Starbucks built into a university building. They’ve made it look homey, like you’ve just stepped into your parents living room. Kurt can only imagine that, as a Starbucks set up in a university, this was more than purposeful.

“So,” he says, finally. “Why Music Business?”

Blaine looks up from where he’d been staring at the pick-up counter. “Well,” he says. “I’ve been in business since I graduated from Columbia back in the day.” Kurt tries to hide how impressed he is by Blaine’s alma mater. “It seemed silly to throw almost thirty years of business experience down the drain when I could incorporate it to my love of music.”

“Practical,” Kurt replies, which makes Blaine chuckle.

“That’s one word for it,” he replies.

Kurt wants to pry more. Everything about Blaine calls out to him. He wants to know everything about the man. He wants to know the other word for why Blaine chose Music Business for his graduate degree. He wants to know every detail of why he’s got two grown children, but no ring on his finger. He wants to know about the past thirty years of Blaine’s life, and however many years he lived before that, too.

Thankfully, before he can blurt out any of the undoubtedly inappropriate questions flying through his head, the barista calls out their names.

They each grab their drink and head to the small stand next to the pick-up counter full of everything they might need to make their coffee’s spectacular. Kurt doesn’t need much more than a stirrer and an extra cardboard cozy, but he watches as Blaine imbues his drink with a cocktail of sugar, milk, and cinnamon.

Somehow, it feels too intimate to be watching Blaine do this. Like knowing what his TA puts in his coffee isn’t something Kurt should know. Which is ridiculous, because he’s known the coffee orders of most of his TA’s over the years. Their pizza preferences, as well as Chinese food, too. This is nothing. This is normal. He would have learnt this eventually anyway.

Still, he looks away just as Blaine sets the cinnamon down. Maybe it’s less the act of knowing what his TA puts in his coffee, and more the act of watching Blaine’s gloriously long, slim fingers putting said things in his coffee.

He really needs to get this under control.

“So,” Blaine holds his cup up once he’s placed the lid firmly back on it. “Do you have a bit more time to chat, or do you have to be getting ready for your next meeting?”

He doesn’t. His next meeting isn’t for another hour, and it will probably be a short one, so he doesn’t have much to prepare for.

Despite that, he says, “Yes, unfortunately I should get going. But thank you for suggesting this, Blaine. It was nice to get to chat a little more.”

Too nice.

Blaine nods and smiles as Kurt begins to walk towards the door. He waves goodbye to Blaine, who is setting himself up in one of the few empty tables in the shop. Blaine waves back as he pulls his laptop out of his bag. Kurt watches him just a moment too long, watches as he takes a sip of his coffee and opens up his laptop.

When he finally leaves, it’s with the treacherous thought that Blaine’s lips would probably taste of cinnamon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/180827168410/unexpected-224)


	3. deputy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm so behind, I'm cheating a little bit and using the prompt for day 4 (deputy) for this chapter, even though technically this should be day 3. oops? Hope you enjoy anyway!!

Soon enough the sun has set on the day before classes begin and has risen on the first day of classes.

They’re beginning on a Wednesday this year, for god knows what reason, but Kurt is thankful since he only has two classes to teach on Wednesday’s. One is a small seminar, only for Music Studies senior students, and the other is his Popular Music 101 lecture.

It’s his largest class, and only one of two lecture classes he’s kept on since becoming a full-time professor. Although he much prefers seminar-style classes, where he and the students can bounce ideas off each other, he can’t deny his love for this particular class. He’s been honing the syllabus for eight years now and is very proud of what he manages to do in the class every year.

It’s also the reason that he is assigned more TA’s than anybody else in his department. As there are only a few lecture-style classes in the music department, most professor’s don’t need more than one or two TA’s across all their classes. Kurt is always given four – three for Popular Music 101, and one for Musical Composition 102.

Usually he’s grateful for the extra hands, but this year…

Well, let’s just say that this year the extra hands caused him to have a very interrupted sleep before his first day of classes.

He continues thinking about it on his way to work. All the thoughts that kept him tossing and turning all night continue to bombard him, barely allowing him a moments rest.

 _He’s a TA. He’s_ your _TA. You’re technically his boss, and he’s technically a student_.

_But he’s older than me. He has far more life experience. He worked in business only a decade less than I’ve been alive._

_You’re in a position of power over him, on multiple levels. It would be wrong._

_He’s genuine and kind, and he isn’t some twenty-year-old twink trying to flirt his way to a better grade._

_He has two grown children, but no ring, which means his familial situation has to be complicated on some level._

_He might not even be gay._

_He’s so pretty_.

It’s hopeless. By the time he’s reached campus all he’s managed to do is twist his brain up into more of a knot than it already was.

He forces himself to take deep breaths as he begins the walk from the subway station to Popular Music 101. Thank god it’s just the first day. He doesn’t know how he’d be able to lecture for an hour and a half with his mind in its current state.

By the time he reaches the lecture hall it’s already filled with the voices of three-hundred-plus students. He notices Blaine, Mercedes, and Tina all sitting together in the front row, but all engaged in different conversations with students around them.

He approaches the podium, happy to see the syllabi he asked his TA’s to print out are all present and accounted for. Four large stacks of them. He’s thankful. One year his TA’s forgot to do it, which meant he had to lug over three-hundred syllabi from the staff printing room back to the hall. It was not a fun day.

“Good morning, everybody,” he says into the microphone at the podium. He waits for the students to notice him and begin to shush each other. Once the only sound is a couple of stray whispers, he continues, “I’m Professor Kurt Hummel, and this is Popular Music 101.”

He begins his introductory spiel; ten minutes on his expectations for the students and the course, how the grading works, how he will mark their attendance and participation. Once that is finished, he turns to his TA’s.

“Now, before we hand out the syllabus, I’d like to introduce you to my deputies for this semester. Blaine, Mercedes, Tina, come on up.”

The three stand up, and Mercedes confidently makes her way up to the podium. Blaine follows, which Tina coming last, looking a little hesitant.

“Hello, everybody,” Mercedes says. “I’m Mercedes Jones. I’m in my third and final year of my master’s in Music Studies, specializing in Music Education. I’m writing my thesis on the importance of music in low-income schools. This is my second year TA-ing this class for Professor Hummel, and I’m very excited to be here.”

She steps aside, allowing Blaine to come up next. He gives her the gentlest smile, and Kurt just has to look away.

“Hi,” Blaine begins. “My name is Blaine Anderson. I’m a first-year graduate student, getting my master’s in Music Business. I still haven’t decided on my thesis topic,” he sends Mercedes a wink when he says it, which somehow just makes the girl laugh and not melt into the puddle Kurt feels he is melting into. “As you can tell, I’m a little older than the other TA’s, but I promise that doesn’t mean I will be stricter on you. I also promise not to try too hard to relate to you with any cool, hip slang.”

A few people chuckle at that, and Blaine takes a step back with a bashful smile. Kurt wonders if he has literal cartoon hearts floating over his head, because it certainly feels like he does.

“Um, hello,” Tina says. “I’m Tina Cohen-Chang. Like Blaine, I’m in my first year of Music Business. Also undecided thesis. Also very excited to be here.” She steps back after that, and Blaine instantly comes up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and rubbing it lightly. She smiles up at him, some tension clearly releasing from her body.

Kurt forces himself to look away and head back to the podium. “Just so you know, all three TA’s will have office hours once a week, and I will have office hours twice a week. Mercedes, Blaine, and Tina will have office hours Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 2pm to 4pm, respectively. My office hours will be Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 10:30am to 12:30pm. Don’t worry,” he says, seeing several students frantically scribbling the information down. “I’ll send out an email later with all this information, as well as our wonderful TA’s emails.”

Once he sees a couple of understanding nods from his students, he says, “Alright, I think that’s almost everything I had planned. We’ll hand out the syllabus now, go over it briefly, and then you’re free to go.”

He nods his TA’s over, encouraging them each to take a stack of syllabi. He takes one as well, then begins the climb to the last few rows. He glances over and notices that Blaine has done the same on the other side of the hall.

He can hear Blaine quietly speaking with all the students as he hands out the packets, and really, he needs to stop doing things that make him more attractive to Kurt. Though, at this point, that seems like an impossibility. It’s becoming clear that it’s simply Blaine that Kurt is attracted to. Everything else just adds to that attraction.

Once all the syllabi are handed out, Kurt heads back to the front of the room to give a brief overview of its contents. He then asks if there’s any questions, and, after there are none, lets his students know that they are free to go.

A few students stick around to chat with Kurt, as well as with the TA’s. He can see Tina become less uncomfortable as she chats with the students one-on-one, but Blaine and Mercedes are absolute naturals.

It’s at least twenty minutes before all the students have evacuated the hall, leaving only Kurt and his TA’s.

“Need us to stick around for anything, Professor Hummel?” Mercedes asks.

“No, no, get going. Enjoy the class being over so quickly.”

Mercedes and Tina leave quickly, saying their goodbyes as they go. Blaine, frustratingly, isn’t so quick to pack up.

“I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this already,” Blaine says, slowly putting his things back into his bag. “But I’m really looking forward to working with you this semester.”

He slings his bag over his shoulders, then waves a quiet goodbye to Kurt, who stares after him like a moron.

Oh, thank god Blaine doesn’t know just how much Kurt is looking forward to working with him as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/180837273880/unexpected-324)


	4. exclude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing this chapter for the klaine advent day 5 prompt, exclude. i'm still hoping to include the day 3 prompt at some point, but you know, still cheating a little bit to fit the chapters hehe I'm hoping to post another chapter today, but that, of course, depends on if I manage to write it :P Hope you enjoy!!

Kurt could not be more thankful for the weekend. His first week of classes has been an utter disaster, if nothing else because he’s been far too distracted by his silly crush on his new TA. At least the next two days will give him some time to unwind, and hopefully to get his head on a little straighter.

His Saturday is spent reviewing his lessons for the upcoming week, and then failing to ward off a night out with Rachel, Brittany and Santana, after Santana insists they need to do tequila shots at least one more time before they all turn forty.

His Sunday is therefore spent lying on Santana and Brittany’s couch, a garbage can by his head and an equally hungover Rachel on the nearby loveseat.

By the time it’s dinner on Sunday, he feels at least slightly human, and manages to get re-dressed in last nights clothes, hoping to head home for the evening.

Santana catches him as he’s slipping his shoes on, holding a mug of tea close to her face. “Who’s Blaine?”

Rachel groans from where she’s still on the couch, and Kurt freezes in his steps.

“What?” He asks.

“Blaine,” Santana repeats. “After your fourth shot you couldn’t stop talking about him.”

“How do you even remember that?” Rachel grumbles from the couch.

Santana snorts. “I decided to exclude myself from the shots after the third.”

Kurt glares at her. “They were _your_ idea.”

She shrugs, taking a short sip of her tea. “So, who’s Blaine?”

Kurt finishes pulling his shoes on, and quietly says, “Nobody.”

Santana moves toward him as he stands, staring at him cautiously. “Kurt, look. I know things have been hard for you since Adam… left.” Kurt snorts. _Left_ is a nice way to say dumped him a month before they were supposed to get married. “But if it’s making you desperate enough to go for a student…”

“Hey,” Kurt puts a hand up, stopping her. “Blaine is not…” He pauses, head pounding. “He’s not a normal student, okay?”

“So, you’re not denying that he’s one of your students,” Santana says, holding her mug up against her lips, almost as if defensively.

“He’s not really,” Kurt says, crossing his arms. He glances over at Rachel, who seems to have passed out a gain, then continues, quieter, “He’s one of my TA’s. And he’s… he’s older.”

“Like, what, mid-twenties?” Santana asks.

“No, like, older than _me_.” Kurt says. “By at least a decade.”

“Oh, shit.”

“But it doesn’t matter,” Kurt says, shaking his head. “Because even if that’s the case, he’s still my TA, and he’s still a student, so it’s wrong. And I swear, nothing is going to happen. I’m just a little…” Kurt rubs a hand against his temple. “Look, you know it’s been tough for me since that whole ordeal with Adam. I think I’ve just been off the market for too long, and so my mind has latched on to the first guy I’ve felt honest attraction to since Adam left me.”

Santana lowers her mug slightly. “Are you sure? Because some of the things you were saying last night… It sounded like back when you first met Adam. Or, hell, when you first met any of the guys you had serious relationships with.” She glances at Rachel, then back to Kurt. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow. “Or fired?”

“Well, obviously.”

Kurt smiles at her, nodding. “Don’t worry. I’m… I’ve got it under control. I promise.”

She nods back, though doesn’t look too convinced. He grabs his things, ignoring the concerned way she’s staring at him. “You know, Jaden is still single.”

“God, Santana –”

“Kurt, you said it yourself,” she says. “You haven’t dated since Adam left, and that was almost a full year ago. Even Rachel moved on faster after her divorce.” At the sound of her name, Rachel groans from the couch. Santana, of course, ignores her. “If getting back out there is going to stop you from doing something stupid like fucking your TA, I think you should do it.”

Kurt wants to argue. He wants to reaffirm that he doesn’t _need_ to be set up, especially not by his married friends.

He doesn’t, though, because he’s pretty sure she’s right.

He sighs, then says, “I’m free for lunch on Saturday.”

She nods, a small smile creeping on her face. “I know for a fact that Jaden is as well.”

Kurt nods back. “Text me his number, I’ll set it up.”

“You won’t regret it, Kurt.”

He feels like he most definitely _will_ regret it, but he knows he will regret letting these feelings for Blaine grow any further than they already have. So, he doesn’t say anything. He simply grabs his things, quietly says goodbye to a still-groaning Rachel, and then waves goodbye to Santana without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/180892823265/unexpected-424)


	5. camera

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter I’m finally doing the day 3 prompt for klaine advent which is “camera”. After this I’m going to try really hard to actually keep to the prompt of the day for each chapter. I swear, I’ll stop cheating ;) 
> 
> Enjoy some Klaine chats!! I’m hoping to post two more chapters tomorrow, but don’t want to make any promises. Either way, I hope you enjoy!!

Monday passes relatively harmlessly, mostly because Kurt is still fairly hungover from Saturday, and has to focus all his energy on not appearing that way to his students and co-workers.

On Tuesday he gets up bright and early for an 8am graduate seminar, which goes just as smoothly as he expected. Afterwards, he has a half hour to kill before his office hours begin, and he makes good use of it by heading to Starbucks and absolutely inhaling a cup of coffee.

He sits in the shop for a short while, looking over his notes for his two afternoon seminars. Then, once he realizes he needs to get a move on to reach his office in time, he packs his things up and is on his way.

He definitely would have made it on time, too. If it weren’t for…

Well, Blaine. Obviously.

He catches sight of him halfway to his office. His walk slows without him meaning to, taking in the man. He’s wearing a sweater vest, of all things, paired with a matching bowtie, and thick-rimmed glasses. All in all, it’s a bit too much for Kurt to take.

He’s also chatting with a young, tall black girl. The girl is dressed far more fashionably, with a flowy blouse tucked into a chic short skirt. She has a camera hanging from her neck, and what Kurt assumes is a camera bag slung over her shoulder.

From the looks of it, Blaine is far more interested in the conversation than she is.

Before Kurt can even begin to make assumptions about what he’s witnessing, the girl lifts a hand in a silent wave, and begins to walk away. Blaine looks like he says, “Okay,” before he moves in as though to hug the girl. She doesn’t seem to notice the action, and she begins to stride away with purpose, leaving Blaine with his arms awkwardly outstretched to nobody.

Kurt moves toward the man, wincing a little as he does. “Ouch,” he says once he’s close enough for Blaine to hear him.

Blaine finally drops his arms as he turns to Kurt with a surprised, “Professor Hummel!” His hands close into fists, then immediately unclench. “I wasn’t expecting to see you there.”

“I’m just on my way to my office hours,” Kurt says, head vaguely gesturing in the direction he’s headed. He then glances over to where the girl has disappeared into the crowd of students. “A friend of yours?”

Blaine’s smile is thin, but his eyes go to where Kurt’s were just a moment ago. “My daughter, Jane.”

Right, of course. Blaine had told him he had a twenty-one-year-old daughter. “Oh,” Kurt says.

“Yeah, she’s meeting some friends soon, doing a photography shoot. She’s studying photography at NYU.” Despite the sad smile on his face, Kurt can hear the pride in his voice as he says it. “She’s just in a bit of a hurry. You know, kids.”

Kurt, feeling like an absolute moron, raises his left hand to show off his bare ring finger and says, “I don’t, sorry.”

“Right, jeez,” Blaine shakes his head. “Because not everybody has children, which I am fully aware of. Sorry, I’m a little scattered right now.”

“It’s no problem.” Kurt says, swallowing the _it’s kind of cute, actually_. “Do you want to… walk and talk?”

Blaine smiles at that, and nods. Kurt turns to begin his walk once more, this time with Blaine in two. “So,” Kurt says. “Are things with your daughter…?” he trails off, unsure of what to say.

“Complicated,” Blaine finishes for him. “Quite complicated.” Kurt glances over and sees that Blaine is looking very determinedly at the ground. “With my son, as well.”

“Is it too much if I ask why?”

Blaine looks up at him, brow furrowed. “Do you make a habit of offering walking therapy to your TA’s?”

Kurt shakes his head, looking away as a flush creeps over his face. “God, I’m so sorry. That was incredibly inappropriate, wasn’t it? I’m really—”

“No, I’m sorry. That sounded way more serious than I meant it.” Blaine is smiling now, eyes wide. “I just wanted to know if I should feel special because of this, or if this is just normal Dr. Kurt Hummel behavior.” There’s a tease in his eyes, and it makes Kurt’s stomach flip.

His throat is slightly hoarse as he whispers, “Of course you’re special.” He sees the way Blaine’s eyebrows shoot up, and much louder says, “I mean – no, yes. I like to lend a helping ear to my TA’s. You know, be there for them when they need me.” And then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, he says, “I’m not like a regular boss, I’m a cool boss.”

If the earth could just swallow him whole, that would be wonderful.

Blaine is chuckling now, and Kurt is glad that at least one of them is getting some enjoyment out of this.

God, he feels stupid. He feels like a teenager, not a fully-grown adult about to enter his forties. He’s almost been married, for god’s sake. He doesn’t understand why he feels like Blaine is the first gay man he’s ever met.

He doesn’t even know if Blaine _is_ gay, for fuck’s—

“Well, for the record,” Blaine says, gently bumping their shoulders together. “I like the idea of being special.”

Oh, okay.

Kurt’s throat still feels a little dry as he asks, “Really?”

Blaine rolls his eyes ever so slightly as he says, “What can I say, I’ve always been a bit of an attention whore.”

It’s Kurt’s turn to laugh. Blaine laughs with him, moving in so that their shoulders bump again. It makes Kurt’s heart race.

“Thank you, Professor Hummel,” Blaine says. “Looks like your walking therapy is a success.”

“Well, then, job done.” Kurt grins at the older man, who smiles back warmly. He wants to say more, wants to tell Blaine that he didn’t actually answer Kurt’s question as to why things are complicated with his children, but he knows he’s already toed the unprofessional line a little too much for one conversation.

Besides, they’ve reached the building in which Kurt’s office is, and Blaine says, “I should probably leave you to it. I have a class in a bit, anyways.”

“Right,” Kurt says. “Well, um. Thank you for walking with me, Blaine.”

Blaine’s eyes sparkle as he says, “Thank you for making me feel special, Professor Hummel.”

Kurt feels frozen on the spot as Blaine begins to walk away. His heart pounds in his chest, and his palms feel beyond sweaty.

He shakes his head and forces himself into the building. He’s already late for his office hours, so he really needs to get a move on.

As he waits for his elevator, he thinks about his upcoming date on Saturday, and the way his heart is still beating frantically in his chest.

Maybe he should try and move the date up sooner. He can already tell that this will be a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/180896866610/unexpected-524)


	6. feed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the klaine advent day 6 prompt “feed”. It actually worked for this chapter, so yay!! im still so behind oops but im hoping to catch up soon!! Hope you enjoy :D

Kurt almost cancels his date on Saturday at least a dozen times throughout the week. And not simply thinks about cancelling it, but actually writes out a text message saying _I’m sorry, but this isn’t going to work out after all_ that he just can’t bring himself to send.

Because the thing is, as the week goes on, Kurt becomes more and more aware of how deep his crush on Blaine already is. And the clearer that becomes, the clearer it is that simply going on a date with another man isn’t going to make it go away.

Still, even though he knows this date won’t do what he wants it to do, he still hopes, and he still needs to try, dammit. He can’t just keep falling for Blaine harder and harder with every passing week. If he keeps going the way he’s going, he’s going to be fully in love with the man by the end of the semester.

So, when Saturday comes around, despite his misgivings Kurt finds himself waiting to be shown to a table with Jaden, Brittany’s dancer friend, at a nice (but not fancy) restaurant near Washington Square Park.

Jaden seems decent enough. He’s a couple of years younger than Kurt, and significantly taller. Usually Kurt likes that, but so far all he’s been able to think about is how Blaine is just the smallest bit shorter, and how absolutely adorable he finds it.

They’re shown to their table, and the minute they sit down Jaden jumps into a story about when he was on tour with Katy Perry and how he almost broke his knee. Kurt pays attention as well as he can, but the whole time Jaden is speaking he can’t help but feel that this entire story is being told exclusively so that 1) Kurt will feel sorry for him because breaking his knee probably would have meant the end of his career and 2) so that Kurt will know that he’s met Katy Perry.

He wonders what Blaine’s big story on a date would be. Something relating to his kids, perhaps? Or, maybe a new story, stemming from his return to college after so many years. Maybe about a certain creepy professor who can’t keep his eyes to himself…

“But it was fine, in the end,” Jaden smiles brightly as he says it. “I mean, obviously, since I’m still working to this day.” He winks as he finishes, and Kurt nods with a wide smile, trying to act like he’d been listening far more than he actually was.

“And thank god for that,” Kurt says, making Jaden smile even brighter.

The waiter comes to take their drink order, and soon silence falls over the table as they peruse their menus.

There’s a couple of moments where Kurt almost makes a quippy joke about some of the options, but worries he’ll come off too judgemental.

He wonders if he’d worry about that if he were on this date with Blaine.

Once they order, Jaden jumps right back into another dancing story, and Kurt desperately tries to listen to this one. And, to the next one. And the one that comes after that. Actually, by the time they’ve finished eating and being asked if they’d like to see a dessert menu, Jaden has told Kurt about ten different stories about his dancing career, all of which included some manner of celebrity and either himself or another dancer almost injuring themselves.

“I’m good,” he tells the waiter. “I’m actually just going to go to the bathroom,” he directs this at Jaden, who smiles back at him. It’s nowhere near as bright as it was at the beginning of the date, which tells Kurt that he realizes this isn’t going that great either.

It’s a bit of a trek to the bathroom, as it’s near the far back of the restaurant. He shakes his head to himself as he walks, thinking about what a ridiculous waste of time – both for him, and for Jaden – this was.

“You just need to stop trying to hard, Blaine,” he hears, and he freezes. Eyes dart wildly around the restaurant, heart stuttering when he sees Blaine sitting at a nearby table. He’s dressed nicer than Kurt has seen him at school and wearing those glasses that Kurt can’t handle.

Across from him is a man that looks to be around Blaine’s age. He’s slimmer than Blaine (and than Kurt, Kurt notes, trying to swallow back the jealousy), and obviously taller. His hair is a light grey, but still styled to the nines. His eyes are a sharp green, and don’t leave Blaine’s face for a second.

Oh, god. Is Blaine on a date?

“Well that’s easy for you to say,” Blaine replies, stabbing at his salad. “You don’t have to try at all around them.”

The man sighs, leaning back in his chair. “Blaine…”

“I just don’t get it, Bas. I mean—” Blaine rubs his face, fingers pushing his glasses up so that he can rub his eyes. “Sorry, I know you said Marco hates it when I still call you that.”

“It’s fine, Blaine.”

“No, it’s not,” Blaine says. “The only reason he’s okay with us still getting together is because of the kids, and because I swore I wouldn’t do things like that anymore. The nicknames, the touches. It’s just… hard, sometimes.”

“I know,” the man replies. “Blaine, I get it. It’s only been a couple of years. It’s hard for me too sometimes.”

“I bet having Marco helps,” Blaine says, clearly trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath, and says, “I’m sorry, Bas – Sebastian. That was rude, and jealous. I didn’t mean it. You know I think Marco is wonderful, and I wish you both all the happiness in the world.”

“As you keep saying,” the man smiles teasingly at Blaine.

“It’s just… I don’t get why this is so easy for you. The kids, Marco… it all worked out for you. Meanwhile, I’m still at the stage where I get inappropriate crushes on people I can’t have, and Jane and Rod don’t talk to me unless you make them. I don’t get it.”

Kurt feels a surge of sympathy towards the man, which then makes him realize that he’s just been standing here, listening to Blaine have a very personal conversation with somebody very close to him. He quickly hurries to the bathroom, hoping he won’t be caught. Thankfully, Blaine seems too deep in his conversation (which Kurt is definitely not listening to anymore, thank you very much) to notice him.

He spends far too long in the bathroom trying to calm himself down. He also tells himself that on his way back to his date he is _not_ going to stop and listen to Blaine divulge personal information again. He’s already far overstepped.

Unfortunately for him, he’s not as sneaky on his way back, and he’s only just passed near Blaine’s table when he hears a surprised, “Professor Hummel?”

Kurt stops, then turns, schooling a look of surprise on his face. He makes sure he’s fully turned around before he says, “Blaine, hello!”

“Wow, fancy seeing you here,” Blaine says, sitting up a little straighter. The man across from him clears his throat, and Blaine quickly says, “Um, Professor Hummel, this is Sebastian. He’s my, uh.” He stares at Sebastian consideringly. “My friend.”

Sebastian rolls his eyes and holds his hand out to Kurt. “I’m his ex-husband.”

Kurt’s eyes widen at that and he nods, probably a little manically, extending his own hand out to shake Sebastian’s. “Wonderful to meet you.”

“Sebastian, I told you about Professor Hummel, right? He’s the professor whose class I’m TAing.”

Sebastian’s lips curl up ever so slightly and he says, “Yes, I’ve heard all about him.” He drops Kurt’s hand, but continues to smile. “A pleasure, really.”

“Likewise,” Kurt says (stop). “Um, well, I won’t keep you two. I have to get back to,” he points vaguely behind him. “It was wonderful to see you, Blaine. And to meet you, Sebastian,” Kurt quickly adds, turning to the taller man. Sebastian dips his head in acknowledgement, and then Kurt turns back to Blaine and says, “I’ll see you on Monday, then.”

“Yes, Monday,” Blaine replies.

Kurt immediately turns around, wanting to hightail it out of there, but knowing it would be far too conspicuous.

Before he’s fully out of earshot, though, he does hear Sebastian say, “He’s a little younger than I was expecting.”

And Blaine reply with a sharp, “Stop it.”

He finally manages to turn the corner, and sees Jaden sitting at their table, cell phone pulled out, the check in front of him.

“Hi, I’m sorry,” he says once he sits back down. “I ran into someone I know.”

“It’s no problem,” Jaden says. He looks at Kurt consideringly, then says, “I hope you don’t find this presumptuous, but I asked them to bill us separately.”

Kurt sighs, shaking his head. “Jaden, I’m sorry. This was…”

“It’s okay,” he says, holding up his hands. “Brittany told me about your situation. I get it, people move on at different speeds. I’m not offended.” He stands up, putting his jacket back on. “I’ll see you around, okay Kurt?”

Kurt nods and pulls the bill (which he now realizes is only his half) towards him. He sighs as he stares down at it, not even bothering to watch Jaden walk away.

His eyes flicker to the other side of the restaurant, where Blaine and his ex-husband are still sitting. He sighs again, then raises his hand to flag the waiter and says, “I’ll pay with my credit card, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/180951318190/unexpected-624)


	7. gradual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the klaine advent day 7 prompt “gradual”. I’m posting two chapters in a row, so I’m sorry for the spam!!!!! But I hope you enjoy both (the next will be posted momentarily ;) hehe). Almost caught up!!!!!

“All right, that’s it for today. Please remember that myself and your wonderful TA’s are available during out office hours, or by email, if you have any questions.”

Kurt would be surprised if any of his students heard anything beyond ‘that’s it for today’ based on the immediate cacophony of students standing up, pens being put away, and knapsacks being zipped up that erupts in the room. He sighs and begins to clean his things up.

A couple of students stop by to say things like, “Great lecture today Professor Hummel!” and the like, and one speaks with him briefly about the possibility of handing in an assignment a week early due to a scheduling conflict.

Soon enough, though, all of the students have abandoned the hall. As have most of his TA’s.

Blaine, of course, insists on torturing Kurt a little bit more by hanging behind.

“Good lecture today,” he says, pushing his glasses up his nose. Kurt bites his lip to stop himself from smiling too much. “I’m amazed at how you capture their attention. I don’t know that I’d be able to do it.”

“You only say that because you’re sitting in the front row,” Kurt replies. “Once you get behind the podium, you’ll see how distracted these kids really are. I swear, they think they’re so sly when they text or watch Netflix.” Kurt rolls his eyes. “In a way, I respect the students who openly text more than those who try and do it under their desk. At least the first ones are bold.”

Blaine chuckles, hiking his messenger bag a little higher up his shoulder. “I guess I’ll find out eventually.” He glances around the empty hall, then says, “Actually, I was wondering if I could speak to you about something.”

“Of course,” Kurt says, heading back towards the podium. “Is this, um,” he clears his throat. “About the class? Any students giving you trouble yet?”

“No, no,” Blaine demures. “I didn’t even get anybody during my office hours last week, though Mercedes and Tina said they didn’t either, so I feel a bit better about it.” He looks up at Kurt, and wow, Kurt can’t believe he didn’t notice his eyelashes until now. Those things should be illegal. “It’s actually about Saturday.”

Kurt’s throat feels a bit dry. “Saturday?”

“Yeah, when I saw you at the restaurant.” Blaine comes closer to him. “I just wanted to apologize if anything Sebastian said made you uncomfortable. He’s…” Blaine shakes his head. “Well, he’s not friends with subtlety.”

Kurt licks his lips, thinking back on the man Blaine had been out with a few days back.

His ex-husband.

God, Kurt had a million questions.

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Kurt says, keeping his eyes on his own bag on top of the podium. “Though I am curious as to what he said that you believe merits an apology.”

He looks up briefly to see Blaine shrugging. “Maybe I’m imagining it’s worse than it was,” he says.

“Well, not to encourage self-doubt, but I found our brief meeting to be perfectly amicable.” Kurt forces a smile, trying not to think of the sparkle in the man’s eye. The easy way he and Blaine had with each other. “Maybe I missed something?”

“No, no,” Blaine shakes his head. “I must have…” Blaine licks his lips. “Never mind. Lately…” he begins to wave his hand around a little as he talks. “Well, lately I’ve gotten in the habit of overthinking every interaction I have with people. I’m working on it.”

Kurt eyes him cautiously. “Because of your kids?”

Blaine exhales roughly. “My kids, the divorce. My…” he trails off, biting his lip. “Everything, really.” He looks up at Kurt again, eyelashes grazing the inside of his glasses with every blink. “Sorry,” he says, shaking his head. “I don’t know why I’m always oversharing around you.”

Kurt picks up his messenger bag and slings it over his shoulder. “It’s probably all my prying questions,” he teases, which makes Blaine smile. “Seriously, you can tell me to shut up whenever. I know I’m technically your boss, but when it comes to your personal life—”

“I would never,” Blaine says quickly, almost breathlessly. “Um. Tell you to shut up.”

Kurt feels his cheeks heating up. “Oh. Well, that’s good.” He tries to shake the blush off. “Must be the businessman in you.”

“Old habits,” Blaine says with a shrug. He clears his throat, then says. “Well, I should get going. I have another class in twenty minutes.”

“Yes, of course, go,” Kurt replies, waving him away. “Don’t let me keep you.”

“You’re not,” Blaine says, holding eye contact with Kurt for just a moment too long. He then heads out of the classroom, briefly glancing back at Kurt as he goes.

Kurt, of course, looks away the second he notices Blaine’s head turning back, not wanting to be caught staring. He gradually makes his way out of the hall as well, making sure to leave plenty of space between himself and Blaine.

Over the years, he’s gotten pretty good at reading men’s attraction towards him. He’s had his fair share of relationships over the years, and they’ve taught him how to read the signs very well. Since moving to New York, he’s only had two situations where he mistook somebody’s intentions, and both were during his freshman year of high school, when he still had no idea about romance, relationships, or anything.

Because of this, he’s fairly certain when he gets signs that somebody is interested in him.

And he’s also fairly certain that he’s getting those signs from Blaine.

Which means that now, Kurt is in even more trouble than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/180994748405/unexpected-724)


	8. incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the klaine advent day 8 prompt “incident”. Hope you enjoy!! :D

Now that Kurt suspects that Blaine might return his feelings, he doubles down on trying to keep things appropriate. No walks to the coffee shop, no staying late after class, no popping in during his office hours and acting surprised when Blaine is alone.

(Okay, not that he’s done the last one, but he’s thought about it. _A lot_.)

After all, if they barely interact, their feelings for each other can’t grow deeper. Right?

He justifies it to himself that way. It’s just a crush, after all. Crushes go away, especially if you force them to. And, dammit, he’s going to force this one to.

He manages almost two full weeks without incident. Two weeks of short glances, of running out of class as quickly as possible, of waiting almost unnecessarily long to answer any of Blaine’s emails.

Then, the Thursday of the second week, Blaine walks into his office during office hours. By happenstance, there is nobody else with him at the time.

Of course.

He raps politely on the door, even though it’s open, eyes ridiculously huge behind those glasses that are really going to kill Kurt one of these days. “Hi, Professor Hummel. Can I come in?”

And it’s still weird, honestly, hearing Blaine call him that. If it wasn’t for his ridiculously inappropriate crush on the man, he probably would have asked him just to call him Kurt weeks ago. As it stands, he needs the small reminder of where they are, who they are, and what they are to each other. Maybe one of these days his stupid brain will actually get it.

“Yes, Blaine, come on in,” Kurt waves him in, but doesn’t stand up from behind his desk.

 _Keep the distance_ he tells himself. _He’s your TA, not your boyfriend_.

Oh, god, well that just caused a bunch of inappropriate images to fly through his brain.

“I hope I’m not bothering you,” Blaine says.

Kurt holds his arms out to his empty office. “Please, I welcome the distraction from my work.” _Wrong answer, buddy. Keep. The. Distance_.

“Well, wonderful then,” Blaine smiles. He sits down in the chair across the desk from Kurt, then says, “I was wondering if you’d be interested in participating in some research for the Women’s Studies department.”

Kurt frowns. “Research?”

Blaine nods. “One of their graduate students, Sam Evans, is doing his thesis on the disparity between being a queer teenager in the 70’s and 80’s and now.”

Oh, shit. This. Kurt feels his cheeks heat up. “Um, Blaine.” Kurt says, wincing a little. “I actually meant to email you about this but forgot.” _What with all the distance keeping I’ve been trying to do_.

“What do you mean?” Blaine asks.

“I’m on Sam’s thesis advisory board,” Kurt says. “His non-Woman’s Studies professor. I was the one who sent him your way.”

Blaine’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

“He didn’t tell you?” Kurt asks, tilting his head to the side.

“No, no. Well, he told me one of his professors told him about me but seeing as he’s with the Women’s Studies department I didn’t…” Blaine chuckles, shaking his head. “Jeez, this is embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Kurt says. “You couldn’t have known.”

“Still, sheesh.” Blaine rolls his eyes to himself. He looks up at Kurt, then begins, “So, do you know why he’s doing his thesis on this? I mean, isn’t he straight?”

Kurt nods. “Yes, but his sister isn’t. She’s sixteen and came out to his family a couple of summers ago, before Sam began his graduate studies. Apparently they got in a big fight once about why she’d been nervous to come out where she mentioned that people weren’t, and aren’t, always that accepting, and he decided to do more research on it. One thing led to another, and here we are.”

Blaine nods. “Wow, so you really are in on the ground floor with this. This is even more embarrassing,” Blaine shakes his head. “And I’m guessing since you’re on his advisory board you wouldn’t ethically be able to participate in his study, then?”

Kurt’s cheeks heat up at that. “Well, yes, but also… I mean, the study is centered on queer teenagers from the 70’s, 80’s, and 2010’s. I wasn’t a teenager during any of those years.”

Blaine stares at him, eyes wide. Then, he covers his face with his hands. “Right, jeez. Of course you weren’t. That’s…” Blaine rubs at his eyes. “I’m just going to leave before I embarrass myself any further.”

“Hey, no,” Kurt says, even though his brain is telling him that _yes, Blaine needs to leave, they’ve already spent too much time alone together_. “Don’t be embarrassed. I take it as a compliment.”

Blaine drops his hands and deadpans, “That I forgot that you’re a decade younger than me?”

Kurt bites his lip. “Yes?”

“Oh, come on,” Blaine rolls his eyes. “You can’t even be forty yet. There’s no way you aren’t offended that I just assumed you were in your late-forties.”

“I’m thirty-eight, actually, so thank you for the accurate guess,” Kurt says. “And believe it or not, I _do_ take it as a compliment. Most people usually assume I’m younger than I am, so to have someone assume I’m older is actually kind of cool.”

“Not when it’s your fifty-year-old TA forgetting that you’re not actually his same age.”

Their eyes are glued to each other’s, and Kurt feels his breath coming in shakier than before.

“Does it bother you?” Kurt finds himself asking. “That I’m not your same age?”

Blaine shakes his head. “Not…” His chest puffs in a deep breath, but his eyes never look away from Kurt’s. “Not in the slightest.”

“It’s not weird for you?” Kurt continues, trying to steer things into safer territory. “That your boss is twelve years younger than you?”

Blaine shakes his head minutely. “I keep telling myself that it should be weird,” he says, voice quieter than before. “But it just… isn’t.”

Kurt swallows thickly. “For me, either.”

The air between them crackles, and Kurt knows just as well as Blaine does that they aren’t talking about Blaine being Kurt’s TA.

Kurt looks away, heart threatening to burst from his chest. “Right,” he says, eyes on his desk. “Well, I’m sorry that I couldn’t help you in what you came here for.” He begins to uselessly rearrange the things on his desk. “I hope you didn’t waste your time.”

Blaine clears his throat, which causes Kurt to glance up. The older man is still staring at him, eyes on fire. He says, “Being around you is never a waste of my time.”

Kurt feels his lips parting slightly. Blaine stares at him for another moment, and then, as though becoming aware of himself, quickly stands up and hurries out of the office without another word.

Kurt watches him go, eyes glued to his back until he’s completely disappeared. Even then he continues to stare at his open door, lips still parted.

So much for crushing his crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/180994849400/unexpected-824)


	9. house

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for the klaine advent prompt "house"! Like yesterday, I'm uploading two chapters today, so the next one will be up very soon!!

On Monday morning, Kurt wakes up with an email from Blaine informing him that he won’t be able to attend the lecture today. Kurt replies that’s it no problem at all.

He doesn’t say anything, but he’s actually thankful that Blaine won’t be there today. He’s spent all weekend thinking about the incident in his office on Thursday, how open Blaine had been about his attraction to him. He clearly regretted it after, based on how quickly he left the office, but still.

If that’s how things are going to be, Kurt doesn’t know that he’ll be able to last the next few months without acting on his feelings. Sure, the logical side of his brain is telling him that he can’t do anything because Blaine is a student, he’s Kurt’s TA, and all that aside it seems like Blaine’s life is really, _really_ complicated right now.

The non-logical side of his brain, though, likes to team up with his heart and shouts _He likes you back! He’s hot! He’s sweet! Go for it!!!!!!_

So, really, it’s a good thing that Blaine can’t come to class today.

Except, Kurt realizes on his way to school, that he didn’t say _why_. Just that he couldn’t make it. Which normally would be fine, he’s not the kind of professor that demands doctor’s notes, but considering the circumstances…

No. Blaine is probably not feeling well or had an emergency with his kids. Maybe something happened with Sebastian. It was something else, definitely nothing to do with their meeting in Kurt’s office on Thursday.

No matter how many times he tells himself that, it doesn’t seem to stick.

He manages to set his worries aside while he teaches, though only barely. His eyes keep catching on the empty seat between Mercedes and Tina, and every time he’s forced to focus back on the subject at hand and not fall down the rabbit trail of _he’s avoiding me because he showed too much emotion_.

His later seminar is, if anything, worse. He lets his students take control of most of the discussion, which gives him a lot of time to zone out and tell himself over and over again that he made Blaine uncomfortable. That Blaine made himself uncomfortable. That Blaine is missing class because of Kurt, no matter who made who uncomfortable.

Even though he should probably stick around to do some work in his office, he knows it’ll just end up being him staring at his desk for at least an hour, thinking about Blaine, before he finally gives in and goes home.

He’d rather waste his time overthinking things in the comfort of his own house, thank you very much.

He heads to the subway almost immediately after his second class, barely watching where he’s going. His mind keeps swirling around the issue, no matter how much he tells it to stop, and he’s so lost that he barely even notices when he bumps right into somebody.

“Oh, sorry,” the girl says. Kurt looks up, eyes widening when he finds himself face-to-face with Blaine’s daughter. Jane.

“No, I’m sorry,” Kurt says. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

She looks him over briefly, then nods and begins to walk away.

“You’re Jane, right?” he calls out, fully aware of how weird this is.

She stops, then turns slowly. “How do you know my name?” Her voice is full of suspicion, and her hand disappears into her purse, most likely to grab her phone and dial 911.

“Your dad,” he says quickly. “He’s my TA. Blaine.” At her narrowed eyes he says, “I saw you two speaking once.”

Carefully, she pulls her hand out of her purse. “Yeah, I’m Jane.” She looks over his face, then asks, “Did you want to say something? Because I’m running late for a shoot.” Her comes down to the camera bag slung over her shoulder.

“Yes, I just – Blaine didn’t come to class today. Do you know why?”

Jane rolls her eyes. “He’s being melodramatic, that’s why,” she shakes her head.

Oh, god, so Kurt was right. He stayed home to avoid him. Oh, great.

“Melodramatic?”

“Yeah,” Jane rolls her eyes again. “His dad died a year ago today, so he’s being all sulky about it. Stupid,” she shakes her head.

Kurt is shocked at the callousness in her tone. He thinks of how his own father felt after his parents died and tries to imagine calling him ‘melodramatic’ and ‘sulky’.

“Um…”

“Look, I really have to go. If you want to talk to him about it, just call him, or go to his house, or whatever. I’m late.”

She hurries away at that, and Kurt watches her go, still absolutely shocked at her behavior.

Once he’s able to shake the surprise off, he pulls out his phone and opens his google drive, where he keeps all the emergency information for his TA’s. He scrolls down to Blaine’s information and, without allowing himself to think about it twice, clicks on his home address. He’s re-directed to google maps, that informs him that Blaine only lives a twenty-minute subway ride away.

He knows this is probably a bad idea, but dammit, if Jane’s eye-rolls and insults is the only comfort that Blaine has had today, then screw it. He doesn’t care how bad of an idea this is. He has his TA’s addresses in cases of emergency and this, he feels, qualifies as an emergency.

He heads to the subway station, forcing any thoughts telling him how stupid an idea this is out of his head.

Yes, it’s stupid to make a house-call to a TA. Especially to _this_ TA. But it was also stupid to spend all day thinking about how he’s the reason that Blaine didn’t come to class this morning.

Clearly knowing something is stupid isn’t about to stop Kurt from doing it anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181029095965/unexpected-924)


	10. light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the klaine advent prompt “lights”! This chapter is a little heavy, emotionally, as it deals with the death of a family member (non-canon character) in not super ideal circumstances. Just a warning!! Hope you enjoy <3

Blaine’s building is small; quaint. Kurt stares up at it for a couple of seconds before stepping up to the door and ringing the buzzer for apartment 17.

It’s almost a full minute before a garbled voice asks, “Hello?” through the speaker.

“Blaine?” Kurt asks. “It’s Kurt. Um, Professor Hummel.”

For a moment there’s nothing but the sound of breathing on Blaine’s end. Then, a buzzing sound emits from the speaker and Kurt pushes the door open.

When he reaches the second floor he immediately sees Blaine standing in his doorway. He’s wearing flannel pajamas and huge slippers. His hair is loose from its usual gelled-down style, and Kurt smiles at the sight of the salt-and-pepper ringlets. His eyes look exhausted behind his glasses, though, which causes Kurt’s smile to fall.

“What are you doing here?” Blaine asks, arms wrapped around his middle.

Kurt swallows thickly, stopping directly in front of Blaine. “I, uh. I saw Jane on campus.”

Blaine snorts. “Did you.” It’s not a question.

“She told me that it was the first-year anniversary of your father’s death.”

Blaine shakes his head. “I’m assuming not in that sympathetic tone?”

Kurt presses his lips together, then shakes his own head ever so softly. Blaine stares up at him for a moment, then steps back and says, “Come on in.”

There’s only one light on in Blaine’s tiny apartment, and it seems to be coming from a bathroom. Kurt looks around at the tiny living room, where Blaine’s sofa, TV, and table are all squished fairly tightly. On the small coffee table there’s a set of picture frames filled with pictures of Blaine and his kids. Kurt’s heart twinges.

There’s another picture as well, this one clearly older. It’s of an Asian man holding a little boy, no older than six or seven. Kurt picks it up gently, then glances over at Blaine.

“Was this your father?”

Blaine wraps his arms around himself. “Yeah.” He nods to the picture. “And me, obviously.”

Kurt looks down at the picture again, smiling softly. “You were cute.” He glances up and bites his tongue, knowing the _still are_ that threatens to escape is more inappropriate now than ever.

Blaine shrugs. “It’s the only picture I have of us.”

Kurt frowns, looking back down at the picture. “But this picture is—”

“Old? Yeah,” Blaine shakes his head. “Dad didn’t really like being photographed.”

Kurt sets the picture down. “Blaine…”

“Look, Professor,” Blaine’s eyes shut briefly as he says it. “I really appreciate you coming here, but there’s no need. I’ll be okay.”

“Blaine, your daughter—”

“She doesn’t understand, that’s all,” he says. He slumps into the couch, and Kurt walks over to join him. He makes sure to leave as much room as possible between them.

Kurt looks Blaine over gently, then says, “Help me to?”

Blaine looks up, holds his gaze for several moments. He then looks down at his lap, lowering himself further into the couch.

“My dad and I…” Blaine shakes his head. “We didn’t get along for most of his life.” He keeps his eyes on his lap. “He never approved of my love of music, my fashion, my toys, my… nature. Thought I was too girly, too soft. Blamed my mother,” Blaine sighs. “He wanted me to study business, because that’s what he studied. He said it was sensible, not like my foolish dreams of running off to California and becoming a singer.” Blaine rolls his eyes. “Then I graduated business school with a boyfriend instead of a wife, and he…”

Blaine takes in a deep breath, and Kurt realizes that he’s crying. “You know, I did it for him. To make him proud. I set my dreams aside, I studied something I hated, all for him. But it didn’t matter. The second I introduced him to Sebastian, we were done. He cut me out of his life.” His voice cracks as he says, “Said I wasn’t his son.”

“Oh, Blaine…” Kurt shifts closer to him on the couch.

“Then,” Blaine looks up suddenly, eyes red and full of tears falling on Kurt. “Last year, out of the blue, he calls me. Tells me he wants to see me.” Blaine pushes his glasses up, wipes under his eyes. “Makes me come to this hospital in Chicago, where he’s been living all alone for the past decade.” He swallows thickly. “Tells me he has cancer, and that the doctors have given him just a few more weeks to live.”

“Blaine,” Kurt reaches out, unsure if he should touch him. He decides to anyway, placing a hand gently on Blaine’s own. Blaine turns his hand around and grasps Kurt’s tightly.

“He…” Blaine brings his free hand up to his mouth. “He said he was sorry. That he had a lot of regrets in his life but cutting me out was the biggest one. He wanted to know everything about my life, my family. He didn’t even know that we’d adopted Roderick, you know. Didn’t know I was divorced. He’d never—never _been_ there.” Blaine’s words are coming out more like sobs now. “But now suddenly he’s dying, and he wants to make amends. I was – god, I was _furious_.

“I stayed in Chicago that weekend because he asked me to. He said he wanted to get to know me. But the very next day…” Blaine shakes his head, eyes slamming shut.

“Oh, Blaine,” Kurt says, again, because he doesn’t think there’s anything else he _can_ say.

“After all those years. Years of nothing. He missed the day we adopted Jane. My _wedding_. He was never, ever there, and then suddenly he’s sorry, he wants to get to know me, he regrets it all and he immediately dies.”

Kurt shifts even closer, bringing his free arm around Blaine.

“My kids, they don’t get it. They don’t understand why I’d be so upset about a man who wanted nothing to do with me. They don’t think one day should change anything, but god, they don’t understand—”

“You’re not mourning your father,” Kurt finishes for him. “You’re mourning the father you could have had.”

Blaine fully breaks down at that. He turns so that he’s facing Kurt and buries his face in Kurt’s shoulder.

Kurt wraps his arms around him, pulling him tight.

“It’s okay,” he whispers, rubbing a hand up and down Blaine’s back. “I’ve got you.”

When Blaine only begins to cry harder, Kurt says, louder, “I’ve got you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181029187015/unexpected-1024)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems I always write all at once or not at all LOL. This chapter is for the klaine advent prompt "kidnap". It's not............ super obvious or explicit, so let's just call it blaine "kidnapping" kurt for dinner ;) I'll be posting the next chapter immediately after this! Hope you enjoy!

“Are you sure I can’t help you with anything?” Kurt asks from his spot by Blaine’s tiny table, watching the older man flit around the kitchen.

Blaine shakes his head but doesn’t turn to face him. “I told you, it’s the least I could do after I cried all over you. Just sit back and let me make you dinner.”

Kurt feels his cheeks heating up a little. It’s been so long since a man cooked for him, and that it’s this man in particular doing so…

He can’t even bring himself to chide himself over the thought, because at this point, it feels moot. He just spent half an hour holding Blaine as he cried, which is definitely not something a professor should do for his TA. Staying for dinner feels like nothing compared to the intimacy of the previous act.

It really had felt nice to hold Blaine, even despite the circumstances. Despite being older, Blaine is smaller than Kurt, and he had fit so perfectly in his arms. Kurt couldn’t help but hope that someday he’d get to hold Blaine like that again, except in better circumstances.

Now, he watches as Blaine moves around his small kitchen with ease, feeling stupidly comfortable in the man’s apartment. He doesn’t feel hyper-aware of the fact that he’s Blaine’s boss, or that Blaine is a student, or even that Blaine was crying into his shirt less than twenty minutes ago. He just feels…

Right.

“I really am sorry about that little breakdown, by the way,” Blaine says for the tenth time. “I promise I’m much better at keeping my emotions under the surface.”

Kurt presses his lips together. “Really?”

Blaine turns just enough for Kurt to see the glint in his eye. “No, actually, not really.” He shrugs as he goes back to work. “What can I say, I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve.” He’s quite for a few moments, then continues, “I guess it’s more that I’m not used to bottling things up like that. Bas – I mean, Sebastian – he was always here for things like this. You know, to comfort me, deal with my excess of emotions. Even after we got divorced.” He shrugs. “Of course, he’s with Marco now, and Marco doesn’t think that it’s healthy that we continue to have that type of a relationship, so…”

Kurt feels his heart ache. “Do you not have anyone else you can talk to about this stuff?”

“I have friends, if that’s what you’re asking. And they’re great, they really are, but I guess I’ve never needed them for that, so now it feels weird to ask them for it.”

Kurt looks down at the table. “What about your kids?”

Blaine doesn’t answer for what feels like hours. When Kurt glances back up at him he sees that his shoulders are as high as his ears and he’s completely frozen by his counter.

“Um,” he finally says, remaining stock still. “Well, like I said. My kids don’t really get it.”

“Have you tried to talk to them about it?” Kurt asks, trying not to seem too prying.

He can see Blaine’s shoulders relaxing ever so slightly. “A little. But they’re… well, ever since the divorce they haven’t wanted a lot to do with me.” He turns around a little, and Kurt can see that his eyes are shinning with unshed tears. “I mentioned things were complicated with them, right?”

Kurt nods, standing slowly and starting to walk towards Blaine. “But why? I don’t understand. You’re so—” _incredible, kind, sweet, gentle, marvelous_. “You don’t seem like the kind of dad whose children don’t like him,” he settles on instead.

Blaine sighs. “I don’t know what to say. I honestly don’t know the answer to your question, because they refuse to talk to me about it. Every time I try and bring it up, they just shut me out. Sebastian told me he’s tried, too, but they won’t tell him either.” He shakes his head.

“Are they… complicated… with Sebastian, too?”

Blaine shrugs. “Not in the same way. He did say they’ve been more closed off since the divorce, but they still live with him, and they still talk to him without him having to practically bribe them to do so.”

Kurt reaches Blaine and puts a hand on his shoulder. “I’m… I’m really sorry, Blaine. I wish there was more I could say or do.”

Blaine shakes his head. “The fact that you’re here at all is good enough for me,” he smiles gently up at Kurt, who bites down on his bottom lip. His eyes go from Blaine’s eyes down to his lips, and for the first time his first thought isn’t _you can’t kiss him_.

It’s _not today. Not yet_.

The timer goes off, and Blaine takes a small step back. “Finally! Dinner is ready!”

Kurt steps back as well, then says, “How can I help you set up?”

“Here,” Blaine says, handing him a bowl of salad before heading to the oven. “Take this to the table. I’ll bring the casserole in a moment.”

It only takes about five minutes for them to settle in for the meal. They scoop food onto their plates in silence, and Blaine pours them each a small glass of wine. It’s only once they’ve been eating in silence for several moments that Kurt breaks the silence.

“So,” he says. “Since I’m already massively violating your privacy by even being here,” Blaine begins to respond, but Kurt waves his hand to dismiss him. “There’s something I’ve been wondering for a while but wasn’t sure it was appropriate to ask.”

Blaine sits up a little straighter. He looks directly in Kurt’s eyes and says, “Anything.”

Kurt nods, cheeks heating up a bit. “Why did you decide to go back to school now? I mean, it seems like you have a lot on your plate, personally. What made you choose to add grad school to that plate?”

He sees Blaine swallow thickly. “Well, actually it’s because of my father.” Kurt must look confused, because Blaine smiles at him softly and says, “He left me quite a large sum of money in his will, and a big part of it had the caveat that it would only be used to pursue my love of music, in whatever manner I deemed fit.”

“Wow,” Kurt says quietly. “Blaine…”

“Yeah,” Blaine’s smile widens ever so slightly. “It was… well, a surprise to say the least. But of course, I’m incredibly thankful for it. It’s…” He sighs, looking down at his plate. “It still feels a bit like too little, too late, but it’s something. He didn’t let it just be words, you know? He put it into action. He supported me, and my passions, even if it was just in the end of his life. That still means a lot to me.”

Kurt wants nothing more than to reach across the table and take Blaine’s hand in his. Instead, he simply smiles at the man and says, “I’m glad to hear that it wasn’t all bad in the end.”

Blaine takes a deep breath, and Kurt notices that his eyes are starting to water again. “Oh, jeez. Here I go again. I’m really sorry, Professor Hummel, I feel like all I’ve done around you today is cry.”

Kurt shakes his head, leans a bit forward in his seat and says, “Kurt.”

“Sorry?”

“No more of this ‘Professor Hummel’ business. I think we’re a little past that point, don’t you?” Kurt tilts his head slightly to the side, and smiles. “Just call me Kurt.”

Blaine presses his lips together, but Kurt can see the hints of an upward curve at the edge of his lips. He’s clearly trying to contain a smile, and it just makes Kurt smile, too.

“Kurt,” Blaine says, and it may just be the most beautiful word out of his mouth. “Okay.”

Kurt looks down at his plate, not wanting Blaine to see how huge his own smile is as he repeats, “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181108560120/unexpected-1124)


	12. language

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for the klaine advent prompt “language”. A bit shorter this time around! Hope you enjoy, and I hope to post another chapter tomorrow!! :)

Since Monday, Kurt has felt a huge shift in his relationship with Blaine. For one, he no longer feels the need to repress his feelings. They’ve already crossed so many lines, having feelings for each other just seems like another line they’ve crossed. Not one he plans on acting on any time soon, but at least he can admit that it’s happening without feeling like the worst human being in the world.

It must be obvious to others that their dynamic has changed, because when he arrives to class (early for once) next Monday, it’s to find Tina and Mercedes discussing that very topic.

“I’m telling you,” Tina is saying, still unaware that Kurt has entered the room. “Professor Hummel is a professional. He would never do something like that.”

“You make it sound so dirty,” Mercedes replies, also clearly unaware of Kurt’s presence.

“It’s sex with his TA! Of course it’s dirty!”

“Yeah, but this isn’t the typical situation of a professor hooking up with his TA. I mean, Blaine’s fifty, for god’s sake. It’s not creepy.”

“He’s still his TA, even if he’s older. There’s still a power imbalance!”

“Not really,” Mercedes says. “I mean, don’t you think it kind of balances out with Blaine being older than Kurt? He has more life experience, so in that way you could say that _he_ has more power than Kurt. It cancels itself out.”

“Whatever,” Tina says. “I still don’t think there’s anything going on, because I think Professor Hummel would agree with _me_ that it’s wrong and unprofessional.”

“Well, I’ve worked with him before, so I know him better, and I can guarantee that there _is_ something going on between them, and that it isn’t creepy in the slightest.” She shakes her head. “I mean, didn’t you see Blaine’s face when Professor Hummel walked into class last Wednesday? It totally lit up. He practically had cartoon hearts surrounding his face.”

“Okay, so what, Blaine has a crush on our professor. Isn’t that creepy, too? He’s like, a decade older than him.”

“Tina, I’m telling you, it’s not creepy because _they_ obviously don’t think it’s creepy. Sure, maybe you’re right and there’s nothing going on between them, _but,_ ” she says loudly before Tina can start back up, “I know they definitely have feelings for each other, and I don’t personally see anything wrong with that.”

Tina huffs. “Fine, whatever. Look, I can give you the age and professor thing cancelling each other out, but I don’t know. I still think it would be weird. Professor Hummel is our boss, technically. Would you date your boss?”

“No, but some people would. Blaine isn’t us. If he doesn’t think—”

“Good morning,” Blaine breezes in from the other entrance, cutting Mercedes off. He looks up and sees Kurt standing there. “Oh, jeez. I knew I was running a bit late, but if _you_ beat me here…” he winks teasingly as he trails off, and both girls instantly turn around in their seats to see Kurt standing behind them.

“Oh, fuck,” Tina says. “Professor Hummel, how long have you been standing there?”

Blaine whispers a quiet, “Language,” to her that makes Kurt chuckle.

“Just got here, Tina,” he says, schooling his face into the picture of innocence. “Why?”

Tina glances at Mercedes, then says, “Nothing, nothing.” Her cheeks are bright red.

Kurt just chuckles and heads up to the podium, though he does send Blaine a wink of his own as he goes, which makes Blaine grin and duck his head bashfully.

As he sets up for his class, he keeps running the girls arguments over in his head, shaking his head to himself as he does.

He knows he should agree with Tina. She’s being logical, and sound, and keeping professionalism in mind, but…

Well, damn if he doesn’t find himself more and more swayed by Mercedes argument by the minute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181108645015/unexpected-1224)


	13. momentum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this for the klaine advent prompt "momentum". i'm sorry this is so late!!!!! i'm so behind damn. BUT i'm on holiday's as of Thursday, so hopefully will have more time to write!!!! 
> 
> Sorry in advance for the slight cliffhanger ;)

Blaine catches him as he’s leaving class, saying, “Hey, I know you don’t have office hours right now, but I really need to talk to you about something. Can we go to your office for a bit?”

Kurt nods without thinking, still caught up in the momentum of Mercedes and Tina’s conversation. His next class isn’t for a bit anyway, and he’s more than prepared for it. No harm in setting a little time aside to chat with his favorite TA.

The chat aimlessly as they walk to Kurt’s office. Blaine tells him about his classes, and how much he’s enjoying them (even if he is the oldest person in each one). Kurt tells him about the latest show he’s been binging on Netflix, and encourages Blaine to watch it, too, so they can discuss it.

Once they reach his office, he decides to sit in one of the chairs he keeps for the students, wanting to stay as close to Blaine as he can in their given circumstances. Blaine easily falls into the chair next to him and turns his body so he’s facing Kurt.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

Blaine chuckles. “Right down to business, huh? I see how it is,” he shakes his head, and Kurt rolls his eyes teasingly. “Alright, here’s the thing,” Blaine continues. “I’ve started working with my thesis chair, and he told me I need at least one other professor from my school of studies, and then another that isn’t related to my studies. I asked if either music or business professors would count for the professor from my school of studies, and he said—”

“Blaine,” Kurt says, putting a hand up. “Are you asking me to be on your thesis advisory board?”

Blaine gives him a cautious smile. “Yes?”

Kurt sighs, leaning back a little in his chair. Well, shit, he didn’t expect _this_.

“Blaine, I don’t know…”

“Well, you haven’t even heard what I’m planning to write my thesis on.”

“It’s not really about that,” Kurt says.

Blaine stares at him, face still cautious, but otherwise unreadable. “Then what is it about?” he asks.

“I just…” _god, don’t make me say it out loud._ “Don’t you think it would be a little inappropriate?”

Blaine raises an eyebrow. “Inappropriate?” Kurt can see the hints of a smile appearing on his face.

“Yes, because of…” he trails off for a second, trying to think of a good excuse. “You’re my TA.”

“Because of you’re my TA?” Blaine asks, and now he’s definitely smiling.

“You know what I mean. You’re my TA, so I think it would be a little inappropriate if I was also part of your thesis advisory board.”

Blaine nods slowly, still smiling. He eyes Kurt for a second, then says, “But you’re on Mercedes’s board.”

 _Shit_. “Well, yes,” Kurt says. “But, uh. She asked me before she became my TA, so—”

“So clearly the school doesn’t frown on that, if they still assigned her to be your TA,” Blaine says.

Kurt rubs a hand over his face. “I… guess.”

“So then it wouldn’t be inappropriate?”

“No. I mean, yes, it would!” Kurt groans, head falling back a bit in his chair. “Yes, it would, Blaine.”

“Why?” Blaine asks, leaning forward.

_Don’t make me say it. Don’t do this. You know we can’t—_

“Come on, Kurt,” Blaine whispers, voice dark and husky. Kurt feels his heart skip a beat and, embarrassingly, his pants tighten a little. “Tell me why.”

Kurt closes his eyes and tilts his head back even further. “You know why,” he whispers.

“I want you to say it.”

“Blaine, we can’t,” Kurt says, trying to regulate his breathing. “If the school found out—”

He feels warmth suddenly bracketing his body in his chair, and Blaine’s soft, “Kurt,” is suddenly much closer than before. Kurt’s eyes flutter open and he sees Blaine leaning over him, eyes glued to his. His hands are on the armrests, body completely surrounding Kurt.

His pants tighten a little more.

“I want you to say it.” Blaine whispers, his breath hitting Kurt’s lips as he says it. “Please?”

Kurt swallows thickly, tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. “Because…” he begins, eyes flicking down to Blaine’s lips. They’re delicately parted, and so, so pink. “Because…” he says again, immediately loosing his train of thought once more.

Blaine, it seems, has had enough. He leans forward, closing the distance between them. His lips are gentle, soft, absolutely perfect against Kurt’s. Kurt’s own lips begin to move beneath them, breath catching as Blaine swipes his tongue over the seam of Kurt’s lips.

Just as he opens his mouth to let Blaine’s tongue in, it’s over. Blaine has suddenly jumped away, whispering, “Crap,” quietly. Kurt opens his eyes slowly, still feeling rather dazed from what may have just been the best kiss of his life.

“What?” he asks dumbly.

“The door,” Blaine says, eyes shut, shaking his head. “Listen, Kurt, I…” he glance his eyes over towards the door. Kurt looks too, finally catching on to the fact that _oh, shit, the door was wide fucking open_.

“Christ,” Kurt whispers.

“I’m going to go,” Blaine says, eyes wide. “But not because—” he stops, cutting himself off. He presses his lips together, then asks, “Come over? After your other class?”

“Blaine—”

“I know, just… please? Kurt—”

“Yeah,” Kurt nods. “Yes. I will, of course I will.”

Blaine smiles gratefully, then quickly heads out the door without so much as a goodbye, leaving Kurt feeling like he’d just been through a hurricane he’d barely survived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181227279545/unexpected-1324)


	14. negligence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for the klaine advent prompt "negligence" and much like "kidnap" it's a bit more of an implicit use of the word ;) I'm hoping to post another chapter later today, but don't hold me to it too hard!! :P
> 
> Hope you enjoy <3

Getting through the rest of his day until he gets to go to Blaine’s house is just about the worst kind of torture, but somehow Kurt manages.

After what feels like an eternity he finally finds himself in front of Blaine’s apartment door, knocking gently on the wood after having been buzzed in by the man.

Blaine opens it slowly, smiling cautiously. He steps aside to allow Kurt, and Kurt goes just as cautiously.

Kurt immediately heads for the sofa. When Blaine follows, though, sitting on the opposite end, Kurt finds himself standing.

“Look, Blaine—”

“Kurt—”

Both stop, staring at each other intently.

Kurt clears his throat and says, “This is my fault.” He looks down at his shoes, not wanting to see Blaine’s reaction to those words. “I… I blurred the lines. I told myself it was fine if it was just feelings, and clearly I acted on it. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have been more responsible.”

Blaine lets out a mix between a scoff and a laugh. “ _You_ should have been more responsible?” Kurt glances up cautiously, and sees Blaine shaking his head. “I’ve been so…” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I’ve been selfish. Openly flirting with you, giving you signs, practically _begging_ you to ask me out. I should know better by now.”

“No, no, Blaine.” Kurt takes a step forward. “I’m the teacher here. I should have set the boundary, made it clearer that nothing could happen between us.”

Blaine takes a step forward as well. “Kurt, I’m not some nineteen-year-old undergrad that you’re taking advantage of. You don’t have to play the ‘I’m the adult, I should be the responsible one’ card.”

“But I _am_ —”

“Yes, but so am I.” Blaine looks up at the ceiling with a self-deprecating chuckle. “In fact, some would argue that I am _more_ of an adult. God, Kurt, I’m twelve years older than you.”

“I already told you that doesn’t bother me,” Kurt says, taking another tentative step forward. He quickly backsteps, though, shaking his head. “No. No! See? This is what happens. I blur the lines, I say things I shouldn’t be saying to my TA, and it’s not good.”

Blaine presses his lips together, then says, “Can I speak honestly? Not… not what I’m supposed to say, like I have been saying, but what I really want to say?”

Kurt wraps his arms around himself. “Yes,” he whispers the word.

Blaine nods, then takes a step forward, reaching out and untangling Kurt’s arms from around himself. Blaine takes his hands, then steps forward again, keeping their tangled hands between them.

“I like you, Kurt,” he says, words soft and quiet. “I know that the situation isn’t ideal. I know I’m being selfish by even saying this to you. I know that you have more to lose here than I do. I do, I really do. But I still… I feel a connection between us. I’ve felt it since the first time I met you. I know we should wait until I’m not your TA, and that even then our relationship would be frowned upon because I’m still a student at the school you work at, but I don’t _want_ to wait.”

“Blaine…”

“Kurt, I haven’t felt this way about somebody in years. Like… like there’s promise. Like this could go somewhere. And, call me crazy, but I feel like you feel it, too.”

Kurt sighs. He should step away, pull his hands out of Blaine’s, re-set the boundaries he’d so eagerly torn down.

Instead he says, “Of course I feel it, too. Blaine, I’ve been like a teenager with a crush since I met you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I see you and my heart goes crazy. It’s so damn distracting having you in the front row of my class, seeing you take notes, listen so intently. I’m… I’m crazy about you.”

Blaine is grinning widely at him. “You are?”

“Obviously I am,” Kurt says. “But, Blaine…”

“No, no but’s.” Blaine shuffles a tiny bit closer. “Please, Kurt. Can’t we just have this? Can’t we just like each other and want to kiss each other? Just for now?”

“It’s not that simple, Blaine,” Kurt whispers. “You’re still my TA for another month-and-a-half. If the school found out I could lose my job.”

“What if nobody finds out? We can keep it a secret, just until the semester is over. We’ll make sure I’m not your TA next semester, and I’ll never take one of your classes. It’ll all be above board.”

“Blaine…”

Blaine ducks his head, cheeks reddening. “What was is you were saying about feeling like a teenager?”

Kurt chuckles. “Blaine, listen. I really, really like you. I want more than anything to give this a shot. But it’s just so complicated right now.”

“I know,” Blaine says, stilling looking down at their hands. “I know it is. Not just because I’m your TA, but my life is… I mean, I’m still figuring out how to not be married to Sebastian. My kids hate me, and I can’t figure out why. I’m…” He swallows thickly, shaking his head. “God, why would you even want to get involved with me? You’re not even forty yet, you still have—”

“Blaine,” Kurt squeezes his hands tight. “Don’t say that. You have to know that I want to be with you so, so badly. Hell, if you weren’t my TA I probably would have asked you out about a week after we met.”

Blaine looks up cautiously, lip trapped between his teeth. “So what do we do?”

Kurt sighs. “I honestly don’t know, Blaine. My head tells me that we shouldn’t do anything until you’re not my TA anymore. That it’s only a month and a half anyway. My heart…” He bites down on his lip briefly, then continues, “My heart has been wondering why I haven’t been kissing you for the past ten minutes.”

“I’m about in the same place,” Blaine whispers. “So, I guess the big question is: who do we listen to? Our head, or our—”

Kurt can’t stand it. Before Blaine can even finish he leans forward and presses their lips together. He lets go of Blaine’s hands, instead bringing one hand up to his jaw, tilting his face up into the kiss. His other hand falls to Blaine’s waist.

Blaine inhales sharply into the kiss, then brings his hands around Kurt’s body, placing them gently on the middle of Kurt’s back.

Kurt breathes out through his nose as he moves his lips against Blaine’s, feeling relief flood his body. Oh, god, why had he held back for so long? They could have been doing this for over a _month_. They could have been…

“Wow,” Blaine breaks their kiss, though he stays close to Kurt. “You—you kissed me.”

“Yeah,” Kurt says. “I, uh. I guess I listened to my heart.”

“Does that mean I was calling for you?”

Kurt chuckles as Blaine stares up at him, eyes sparkling at his own joke. With a short shake of the head, Kurt pulls Blaine back in for another kiss, then whispers, “Since the moment you walked into my life,” before bringing him even closer and kissing him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181247373700/unexpected-1424)


	15. orange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter one this time around, sorry!! I'm still massively playing catch-up (though now am only four days behind instead of six!!! PROGRESS!!!!!!!). This is for the klaine advent prompt "orange". Hope you enjoy <3

“We should have rules,” Blaine mumbles against his lips.

They’ve been making out on the couch for a good fifteen minutes, and Kurt’s lips are starting to feel a bit numb, but he doesn’t really care. Still, when Blaine speaks, he forces himself to pull away and ask, “What?”

“Rules,” Blaine says. “We should have rules if we’re going to do this. At least,” he continues at Kurt’s raised eyebrow, “until I’m not your TA anymore.”

Kurt sighs, shifting a little away from Blaine. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” He puts his hands under his pants, knowing there’s no other way he’ll stop himself from moving forward to kiss Blaine again. “You got some pen and a paper?”

Blaine nods and hurries to go get it, coming back in record time. The pen is orange, and the paper is a bit crumpled, but Kurt supposes it’ll do.

“Okay, so,” Blaine lays the paper on the coffee table, pulling it a little closer to the couch and leaning over it. “I guess we should have the obvious rule that we don’t do anything at school.”

“Yes, yes,” Kurt nods, scooting closer to the other man. He’s so warm, and now that he can it’s taking all of Kurt’s self-restraint not to curl into him. “And, uh, we probably shouldn’t tell anyone, just in case.”

Blaine bites down on his bottom lip, holding the pen over the paper. “Um, can I have a small exception for that rule?”

“Who?” Kurt asks.

“Sebastian?” It comes out as a question, and Kurt’s fingers twitch under his thighs. “It’s just… well, I would feel so weird not telling him.”

Kurt presses his lips together, then nods once. “Okay. So, we tell nobody except for Sebastian.” His fingers twitch again, but he ignores them. “Um… what else?”

“You can’t let our relationship influence my TA evaluation,” Blaine says. “I don’t want you to give me a good score just because we’re…” He looks up at Kurt, frowning a little. “Kissing?”

Kurt snorts. “I think dating might be a better word for it.”

Blaine smiles, highlighting the crows feet by his eyes. Kurt reaches forward and rubs a thumb over them, smiling too. “I love these,” he whispers.

Blaine’s cheeks turn red. “You’re weird. Plus, we’ve never actually been on a date, so dating might be a little pre-emptive.”

“Okay, well, on our way to dating. How does that sound?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Blaine replies, and Kurt lets his hand drift down the man’s face, cupping his cheek gently.

“All right,” Kurt looks down at the three rules Blaine has written. “Should we add anything else?”

Blaine shrugs. “We could leave it open? If we think of anything else, we can add it.”

“Sounds good,” Kurt says. Blaine nods, then smiles up at him goofily. Kurt chuckles, then asks, “Can we go back to making out?”

Blaine laughs. “Are we actually teenagers now?”

Kurt scoffs. “Why should making out be exclusively for teenagers?”

Blaine grins and leans into him, saying, “Good point,” before connecting their lips, leaving Kurt with nothing but Blaine and his wonderful mouth on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181251661125/unexpected-1524)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, just like last year I did not manage to finish my klaine advent story in time for the advent. oops? i'm going to keep writing it, of course, and my goal is to finish it in time for the new year. since klaine advent is over, though, i may not really follow the prompts anymore (not that i really did to begin with lmao). hope you enjoy this update and hopefully i'll post another one tomorrow!!

Kurt feels giddy all throughout Tuesday. Despite the circumstances, he can’t help but revel in the feeling of having his feelings be returned and knowing that he and Blaine are now officially ‘going somewhere’.

He manages to keep his head about him during his morning classes, but by the time Blaine’s office hours come around he can’t stop himself. He grabs a couple of coffee’s from the campus Starbucks and heads up to the office his three TA’s share.

Unsurprisingly, Blaine is alone. He’s clearly doing schoolwork, laptop open before him, scribbling into a notebook.

“Hey,” Kurt says, knocking on the door. Blaine looks up, a wide smile instantly coming to his face.

It makes Kurt’s stomach flip to know that he’s the reason for that smile.

“Hey,” Blaine says, setting his pen down. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, you know, I like dropping in on my TA’s occasionally, gracing them with coffee.”

“Interesting,” Blaine says, accepting the cup that Kurt holds out to him. “I’ve never seen you during my office hours.”

“Yes, well, there was a very good reason for that,” Kurt says, smirking a little. “That reason is no longer relevant.”

Blaine shakes his head, chuckling and taking a sip of his coffee. “God, I really needed this,” he says. He glances around his empty office and says, “You’d think at this point in the semester I’d be done sitting alone in my office for the full hour. Don’t we have a big midterm coming up?”

“It’s the joys of being the TA for an intro course. Freshmen all think they’ve got it figured out. Trust me, if you TA a junior or senior class next semester you’ll notice the difference.”

“Can’t wait,” Blaine says.

Kurt nods slowly, a million thoughts running through his head. Still, the rules are clear, they can’t do anything at school, so he simply says, “Well, I should let you get back to your work. It looks important.”

“Not important enough that I’ll still be doing it when all my classes are done.”

“Interesting,” Kurt hums, leaning against the still open door. He casually glances out into the hallway, and, seeing nobody there, says. “Well, hey, maybe if you just happened to be in my area…”

“If I randomly got a text telling me your address…”

Kurt smiles at him, chuckling to himself. “Maybe we’ll coincidentally find each other.”

“In your living room.”

Kurt laughs out loud this time, and Blaine grins. “Who knows,” he winks, then heads out the door, wiggling his fingers goodbye.

He texts Blaine almost immediately after that, then begins planning what to make for when he comes over.

He feels excitement running through his body for the rest of the day. He knows logically that he should feel nervous about this – for various reasons – but all he can’t bring himself to. He’s much too happy about this development.

When he gets home, he quickly whips up a lasagna and shoves it in the oven. Then he spends about half an hour cleaning his living room up, then quickly arranges his bedroom as well. Just in case.

Not that he expects that they’ll have sex on the first date, but well…

Just in case.

His buzzer goes off around 6:30pm, and Kurt hurries to answer it with a flirty, “Yes?”

He can hear Blaine chuckling as he says, “It’s me,” before Kurt buzzes him in.

He opens the door and waits for Blaine to step off the elevator, grinning widely at the sight of the man.

“Hey,” Blaine greets, leaning in for a quick kiss. Kurt kisses back, sighing happily as he does.

“Hey, yourself,” he replies, stepping out of the way to let Blaine in. “You’re just in time. The lasagna’s almost ready.”

“Can’t wait,” Blaine says, setting down his messenger bag on the couch before falling onto it himself.

Kurt follows suit. Once seated, he not-so-casually sets Blaine’s bag on the floor and scoots as close to the man as possible.

Blaine doesn’t seem to notice, eyes eagerly taking in Kurt’s living room. “Your place is gorgeous,” Blaine says.

Kurt shrugs, casually settling his arm around Blaine’s shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the way Blaine smiles at the action. “Thank you,” is how he replies. “I know in these situations you’re supposed to say, ‘it’s not much, but it’s home’, but… well, I’m actually really proud of how I’ve decorated the place.”

Blaine chuckles. “You should be. It’s really gorgeous.” He glances around again, then frowns and says, “Although… Can I ask?”

Kurt nods, looking around himself, trying to figure out what Blaine might be wondering about.

“The empty picture frames?”

Kurt groans, rolling his eyes to himself. “Oh, that,” his eyes finally catch on the empty picture frames scattered around the living room. He shakes his head, then says, “Those used to be filled with pictures of me and my ex-fiancé. I took them out when he left me and told myself I would put pictures of my family and friends in instead, but I keep forgetting.” He rolls his eyes again. “But I refuse to take them down, because I know I’ll just forget more aggressively if they’re not up. This way I notice them every now and then and think ‘Oh, shit, I have to get those pictures printed out’.”

Blaine silently brings a hand up to his shoulder to entwine with Kurt’s. “I didn’t know you’d been engaged.”

Kurt presses his lips together, then quietly says, “Twice, actually.”

“Really?” Blaine asks, turning so that he’s facing Kurt more.

“Yeah,” Kurt exhales sharply. “But, uh. Never married.”

“I’m sorry,” Blaine says. “What happened?”

Kurt frowns. “Isn’t it a little early in the relationship to be talking about past boyfriend’s? I mean, this is our first date.”

Blaine shrugs. “Well, you know about my past.”

“Just Sebastian,” Kurt says, waving his free hand dismissively. When Blaine doesn’t say anything, Kurt turns to see him staring at Kurt intently. Kurt’s eyes widen, and he asks, “ _Just_ Sebastian?”

Blaine shrugs again. “We got together our first year of college and just kind of… stayed together.”

“Oh, wow,” Kurt says, heart speeding up a little. “That’s…”

Blaine raises an eyebrow and asks, “Too much?”

“Impressive,” Kurt says. “That you were together for so long.”

Blaine shakes his head. “We shouldn’t have been.” His eyes go down to his left hand. He stares for a couple seconds, then clears his throat and says, “Jeez, talk about a heavy topic for a first date.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kurt says. “It’s not like anything about this is conventional.”

Blaine’s lips curve up just a bit and he asks, “So you’ll tell me about your past relationships too?”

Kurt stares at him as deadpan as he can. “You only wanted to know about the fiancé’s.”

“Are there many more beyond that?”

Kurt presses his lips together, then gently asks, “Are you asking if I’ve been in more than two relationships in my whole life?”

Blaine shrugs. “Well, to be fair, I don’t really know what a normal amount of relationships would be for someone your age. Having only been in one myself.”

Kurt stares at him for a moment, then says, “You know what, nope. We’re not doing this. I know I said we aren’t very conventional, but this topic is too heavy for a first date.”

“But—”

“Nope,” Kurt holds his free hand up. “Third or fourth date at the earliest.”

Blaine bites his bottom lip and looks up at Kurt from under his eyelashes. His cheeks are dusted light red. He looks much younger than his fifty years.

“You definitely want one of those then?”

Kurt grins. “And a fifth, and sixth. Maybe even a seventh, depending on how the sixth date goes.”

Blaine grins right back. “My, my. Already planning the sixth date when we’ve hardly begun the first. How forward, Professor Hummel.”

Something about the way he says it makes Kurt’s heart speed up in his chest. “Hey,” he shrugs, going for nonchalant. “It’s not like we’re a couple of spring chickens, you know? I like you, Blaine. I want this to go somewhere. I’m not going to play games with you and act like I don’t.”

Blaine’s grin softens, and Kurt could swear that he sees his eyes twinkle. “Me, too,” he says. He leans in and presses his lips softly to Kurt’s, just for a moment. Then, pulling away, he says, “But don’t ever refer to me as a chicken in any way again.”

Kurt laughs, and just as the oven timer goes off, he whispers, “Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181435750455/unexpected-1624)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL so much for finishing this before the new year ahahaha I promise I am still writing this, though, and even though I'm not really following the prompts of the day anymore I've decided to keep this fic at 24 chapters, as I originally planned. I've already written a bit of the next chapter, and I can promise that it's going to be longer than this one (sorry it's so short after such a long wait!). Thanks so much to all of you who have stuck with me <3 I'm hoping to see you soon with a new chapter!!

That same Saturday brings their second date, which Kurt has been far too excited about all week. He has to keep reminding himself that he’s a grown ass adult, not a freshman being asked to the prom for the first time.

It doesn’t really matter how many times he tells himself that, though. It does nothing to quell the excitement that’s practically bursting out of him all week.

He can’t help it. There’s just something about Blaine, about the way he stares at him during class, the way his eyes light up whenever their gazes meet. He can’t stop thinking about cuddling him, kissing him, and things that go far beyond what they have already done.

At this point, he’s beyond caring about how unconventional this is. He’s beyond caring about the university, and how much trouble he’d be in if they were caught. He just wants Blaine.

Of course, the man himself reminds him of how complicated things still are, no matter how much Kurt wants to throw all complications aside, less than an hour into their second date.

“So, hey,” is how Blaine approaches the topic, and Kurt is going to remember that, because he doesn’t ever want to be this caught off guard again. “I told Sebastian about us.”

“Oh?” Kurt asks, setting his glass of wine down on the table.

Blaine is squirming a bit in his seat across from Kurt. He nods just once, and then continues with, “He took it well. He actually… well, he wants to meet you.”

Kurt nods as well, trying to make sense of the millions of thoughts currently running through his head. He picks his glass back up and quickly downs the rest of his wine.

“It doesn’t have to be right away,” Blaine says once Kurt has set the now empty glass back on the table.

“No, no,” Kurt waves a dismissive hand, though he can’t bring himself to look Blaine in the eye. “It’s no problem. I’m just surprised, that’s all. That you told him so soon.”

_How often do you talk?_

“Is that not okay?” Blaine asks. “I know we agreed I could tell him, but if—”

“It’s fine, Blaine, really,” Kurt says, clearing his throat a little when his voice goes up. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting this, that’s all.”

“Too soon?”

Kurt clears his throat again, then finally manages to look up and meet Blaine’s gaze. “Maybe?”

Blaine sighs. He reaches forward and takes Kurt’s hand loosely. “I’m sorry, Kurt,” he says, stroking over Kurt’s palm with his thumb. “I just – I kept thinking about what you said, about how we’re not exactly getting any younger.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow. “Did I say that?”

“Well, you called us spring chickens, but I’m still trying to forget that,” there’s a bit of a twinkle to Blaine’s eye, and it helps to calm Kurt down immensely. “Anyway, the point is that… well, I wanted to show you that I’m serious about this, and this was the best way I knew how.”

_By inviting me to meet your ex-husband on our second date?_

“Wow,” Kurt says. “I…” What is he supposed to say? _I appreciate the sentiment, but what the literal hell Blaine?_ “That’s really sweet,” he settles on.

“I know it’s unconventional, but hell, that’s us, right? And this is really important to me.”

Kurt presses his lips together, thinking. He looks over Blaine’s face, sees the eagerness in his eyes. Oh, god, this is so bad. They’re two dates in and he’d do anything for those damn eyes.

“If I agree to this meeting can we stop talking about your ex?”

Blaine nods instantly. “Yes, of course. I promise, I won’t even mention his name for the rest of the night.”

Kurt eyes him for a moment, the nods slowly. “Okay. Let me know when he’s free to meet up and we’ll do it. But not… not like, right away, okay? I want to have been on at least five dates with you before we take this step.”

Blaine grins. “That is not a problem for me at all.”

“Good,” Kurt says. He glances between Blaine’s empty plate and the couch that’s so near them. “So. You’re done eating?”

“Oh, yes. It was incredible, Kurt. You’re an amazing cook.”

“Yeah, I know, whatever,” Kurt says, standing up. He holds his hand out to Blaine. “Let’s make out on the couch?”

Blaine’s grin just widens.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181694027300/unexpected-1724)


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry once again for the wait!! This chapter is a bit longer, though, so hopefully that makes up for it? Thank you to everyone for your kind comments <3 I hope you continue to enjoy this fic. We're getting into the final quarter!

Dates three, four, and five are far less heavy than dates one and two had been. There’s no talk of their situation at the university. No talk of exes. No talk of awkward situations with children. Just two people connecting over good food and deepening their mutual attraction.

Date three finds them in Blaine’s apartment watching Moulin Rouge! and spawns an hours long discussion of their favorite musicals of all time. They have so much in common that Kurt can hardly believe it.

The only awkward hiccup is when Blaine admits to seeing a show that Kurt missed seeing because he was, well, five years old when the run ended. Kurt is quick to assure Blaine that all he feels at that knowledge is jealous that Blaine got to see it live in his teenage years, and Blaine seems to relax a little.

Kurt makes a note to work harder at showing Blaine just how little he cares about their age difference.

Date four is in Kurt’s apartment and involves a rather competitive round of Crazy Eights. They keep demanding re-matches until late into the night, and Kurt almost doesn’t let Blaine go when he chooses to leave exactly when he’s ahead.

Of course, as he tries to get him to stay for just one more round (once he evens things out he knows he can get Blaine to stay for another, which will allow him to scoop the lead), Blaine distracts him with kisses and touches, and then Kurt almost doesn’t let him leave for a totally different reason.

Date five they’re back at Kurt’s apartment, this time for another movie and pizza. Blaine has brought some horror movie that his son has been raving about on Facebook. Kurt admits that he usually doesn’t do horror, but that he’s in as long as Blaine offers his (very sturdy and broad) shoulder for Kurt to cuddle when he gets scared.

It turns out to be not so bad, though at one point a jump scare causes Kurt to dump their bowl of popcorn all over his couch. Blaine helps him clean it up later, laughing all the while. Kurt would be annoyed if Blaine wasn’t so damn cute when he laughs.

When he’s ready to go, Blaine hovers at the door. “So,” he says, and even though it’s not followed by a ‘hey’, Kurt immediately assumes that something serious will follow. “This was date five.”

“And it was great,” Kurt says, grinning up at him.

“It was,” Blaine leans down and presses a soft kiss to Kurt’s lips. “I’m… I’m having an amazing time with you, Kurt.”

“Me, too,” Kurt says. He leans closer into Blaine, though doesn’t reconnect their lips.

“I, uh.” Blaine turns away from Kurt briefly, clearing his throat a little. “I got a text from Sebastian today.”

Kurt bites down on his bottom lip, falling back on the balls of his feet and moving a little away from Blaine through the action. “Oh?”

“He asked if we’d be free next Friday. So that you guys can meet.”

This is something Kurt has been trying to be okay with. He keeps telling himself that clearly him meeting Sebastian is something that’s important to Blaine. He knows that his desire to refuse is purely selfish and, also, a little rooted in jealousy. Which is gross, and an emotion Kurt has tried to weed out of his life as much as possible.

Still, despite trying to feel okay about it and wanting to eliminate any jealousy regarding Blaine’s past relationship, he can’t help but hesitate.

Blaine, clearly sensing it, says, “It doesn’t have to be next Friday. It can be—”

“Blaine,” Kurt stops him, putting a hand on Blaine’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m just… trying to wrap my mind around the fact that our sixth date will be dinner with your ex-husband.” He tilts his head a little, wincing as he says, “It’s not something I’ve ever really done.”

“Had dinner with a boyfriend’s ex?”

Kurt smiles a little at that. “Yeah,” he says. “I mean, usually the guys I date don’t want anything to do with their exes. I know I don’t want anything to do with mine.”

Blaine’s face falls a little. He reaches up to grab the hand that Kurt placed on his shoulder, interlacing their fingers.

“I know it’s unusual,” Blaine says. “But Sebastian and I still have a really strong friendship. Can you…” he trails off, looking down at their hands, then glances back up, eyes cautious. “Is there any way you could just see it as you meeting a close friend of mine, not my ex-husband?”

Kurt sighs, but leans forward and kisses Blaine gently. “I can try,” he says. “But I… I don’t know if I’ll fully be able to separate that. Because yes, I’m meeting a close friend, but that close friend is still your ex-husband.” _And how you two are still close friends is beyond me. I can’t even stand the thought of most of the men I’ve dated_.

“I know,” Blaine replies. “Look, if this is too much…”

Kurt squeezes his fingers. “Honestly? It is,” he says. “But,” he continues before Blaine can say anything, “I also know how much this means to you. So, yes Blaine, I am free next Friday to meet Sebastian.”

Blaine smiles up at him in that way that makes Kurt feel weak at the knees. “Really?”

“Yes, Blaine, really.” When Blaine hops a little on his feet, Kurt teases, “You better give me a good teacher evaluation for this.”

Blaine chuckles, shaking his head. “Oh, yes, the best! Professor Hummel went above and beyond in making my TA experience memorable. Not only was he willing to meet my ex-husband and comfort me on the anniversary of my father’s death, but he also made out with my face.”

Kurt laughs, throwing his head back at that. “Stop it,” he says, shaking his head.

Blaine laughs a little, too, then pulls Kurt close and whispers, “Seriously, Kurt. This means a lot to me.”

Kurt smiles down at him and tells himself to remember this feeling of happiness at making Blaine so happy for when he’s meeting Sebastian. “I know,” he replies, pulling Blaine in for a long kiss.

**

Friday comes sooner than expected. They’ve decided to meet at a restaurant closer to Sebastian’s apartment, since it’s the farthest from campus. Not that it would be that unusual for a professor to be getting dinner with a TA and their family (Kurt actually met Mercedes’s parents last year, and the four of them had dinner together as well), but Kurt still worries.

Blaine and Kurt travel to the restaurant together, keeping a safe distance all the while. It practically hurts not to be able to reach down and hold Blaine’s hand, not to cuddle up to him on the subway. New York is huge, and Kurt knows there’s a small chance they’ll bump into somebody from the university, but you never know. He’d rather be safe than sorry.

Sebastian is waiting for them at the restaurant, looking just as handsome and intimidating as the last time Kurt saw him. Except this time, he can also see that he’s tall, and in incredible shape for his age.

Jealousy creeps up his spine, but Kurt shoves it away. He tells himself _Blaine and Sebastian are divorced. Sebastian is dating another man_ over and over again as they walk up to Sebastian, who gives them a kind smile.

“Hey, Blaine,” he says, patting Blaine lightly on the shoulder. He turns to Kurt and holds out a hand. “And Kurt, wonderful to meet you again.”

Kurt takes his hand and shakes it as firmly as he can without appearing too aggressive. “Likewise. It’s nice to officially meet you.”

“Should we go in?” Blaine asks, and all three men make their way into the restaurant.

“I’m sorry Marco couldn’t make it,” Sebastian says as they’re shown to their seats. “He’s very interested in meeting you, Kurt, but he just couldn’t get away from this work commitment.”

“It’s okay,” Kurt says, trying not to show just how okay it is through his voice. Meeting Sebastian is intimidating enough; having to sit through a dinner with not only his boyfriend’s ex-husband, but also said ex-husband’s new boyfriend as well? That might have been a little too much for him. “I’m sure we’ll meet eventually.”

“If you plan on sticking around this one any longer, you definitely will,” Sebastian says.

Kurt eyes him suspiciously, then grabs Blaine’s hand and says, “Well, that’s the current plan, so a meeting is in our future.”

Sebastian smiles, though there’s something behind it that Kurt can’t quite place.

Once they’re seated and the waiter brings their menus, things begin to feel a little more comfortable. Blaine leads the conversation, and Kurt is more than happy to follow him in this.

Sebastian is a pleasant conversationalist. He asks questions about Kurt’s life, but not in an overtly interrogatory way. In fact, he often will tell stories of his own when Kurt answers his questions, instead of ignoring Kurt’s answer and simply forging ahead with the next question. He seems genuinely interested in getting to know Kurt, which for some reason surprises him.

There are two topics of conversation, though, that are conspicuously avoided: Blaine and Sebastian’s past marriage, and Kurt’s job.

It feels odd. Blaine and Sebastian don’t have the kind of relationship that Kurt would associate with divorce. They finish some of each other’s stories, and have inside jokes that they can barely explain to Kurt without dissolving into fits of laughter. The longer he’s at the table, the more Kurt understands why Blaine asked him to see meeting Sebastian as just meeting his close friend, not his ex-husband.

Because, really, that’s what this feels like. It feels like he’s meeting Blaine’s childhood best friend, not the man he was married to for almost thirty years.

The thing is, though, they _were_ married. For three-quarter’s of Kurt’s life, in fact. Even though it really just feels like Kurt is getting to know his new boyfriend’s friend, he still can’t force the thought out of his mind.

Which means the jealousy? Is not gone, even though Kurt desperately wants it to be.

Even when Blaine’s stories revolve around him. Blaine’s told Sebastian about what an amazing cook Kurt is, how wonderfully he’s decorated his apartment, and how much he’s loved the few times they’ve goofed off singing together. As much as Kurt knows these stories should make him happy, all they really do is remind Kurt that his relationship with Blaine is less than a month old.

It doesn’t even hold a candle to Blaine’s relationship with Sebastian.

As they finish up their food, Blaine and Sebastian start to get caught up in a story from when they were in college. Kurt, needing some air (hopefully enough to rid himself of the nasty jealousy crawling up his throat), excuses himself to the bathroom. Blaine gives him the absolute sweetest smile as Kurt walks away, and Kurt tells himself to focus on that.

He does end up going to the bathroom, able to rationalize his situation a lot better now that he isn’t actually in the midst of it.

Despite their close friendship and their long romantic past, Blaine and Sebastian got divorced. Blaine hasn’t told him much about it, but Kurt knows enough about relationships to know that people don’t just get divorced willy-nilly. And he knows enough about Blaine to know that _he_ would never divorce someone willy-nilly.

So, Blaine and Sebastian are divorced, and Kurt is sure they have a good reason for staying that way. Sebastian has a boyfriend, and Blaine does, too. Blaine is dating Kurt now, even though it’s crazy, and complicated, and some days Kurt still thinks he’s out of his damn mind for doing this. But, he needs to remind himself, Blaine wants Kurt. He approached Kurt, he kissed him first, he initiated their relationship.

Why would he do that if he was still in love with his ex?

Satisfied and feeling far more relaxed, Kurt heads back to their table.

He stops, though, as he approaches and hears Sebastian and Blaine talking.

About him.

“—really that serious with Kurt?”

That’s Sebastian’s voice, and Kurt’s breath catches in his throat.

“Yes, they are,” comes Blaine’s voice. “You’ve just spent an hour with us as a couple, how can you even say that?”

“Well, Blaine, it’s just…” his voice trails off, and Kurt’s heart jumps in anticipation. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t realize you were that serious about this.”

“Of course I am. I wouldn’t have told you about him if I wasn’t, forget having you meet him.” They’re both silent for a moment, then Blaine asks, “Okay, what? What’s with the face?”

“God, Blaine, I don’t know.” More silence. Then, “You can tell me to fuck off if I’m overstepping, okay?”

“Go on,” Blaine replies, and Kurt feels a chill at the ice in his voice. He doesn’t think he’s ever heard Blaine sound like that.

“It’s just… are you sure this isn’t some… mid-life crisis thing?”

“What?” Kurt’s voice could cut glass.

“Look, I’m not trying to be an asshole, I promise. This just isn’t like you at all, Blaine. Yeah, he seems like a wonderful guy, and I can tell you’re very infatuated with him, but he’s…”

After a beat, Blaine asks, “He’s _what_ , Sebastian?”

“Young, Blaine. He’s fucking young.”

“He’s almost forty,” Blaine says, and it sounds as though he’s speaking through his teeth. “I wouldn’t call that young.”

“Young for _you_. You’re fifty, Blaine, and he isn’t even forty. What are you doing?”

“What do you mean what am I doing? I’m going out with a guy I really like. The first guy I’ve really liked in _years_. What the hell are you even talking about right now?”

“You just never seemed the type to me, Blaine. You know, you and I, we’re the same age. You always told me you loved that, that we could experience our life together at the same time. Now you’re—”

“Listen,” Blaine says. “That was before. You were my first boyfriend, my first love, so of course I wanted us to go at the same speed. I don’t feel that desire with Kurt.”

“Yeah, but Blaine—”

“And yeah, maybe he’s younger than me, but he’s lived things I never lived, in the same way that I’ve lived things he hasn’t. Our life experiences are different, but they compliment each other as well. This works for us, Sebastian. I _like_ him.”

More silence.

“And,” Sebastian begins, “you’re sure that what you like about him isn’t that he’s a young, hot teacher who also happens to be in a position of authority?”

“Excuse me?” the ice is back.

“Oh, come on, Blaine. Let’s not pretend like I don’t know you like the back of my hand. I know how into authority you are. You fucking loved it when I—”

“Do _not_ go there,” Blaine says. “Get to the point.”

“I’m just saying. You’ve always appreciated someone who is more in control than you, _and_ he just happens to be over a decade younger and hot as sin? You just, you have to see how this looks to me.”

Kurt hears Blaine take in a deep breath. “I’m not attracted to Kurt because he’s the professor I’m TAing for, or because he’s young and hot. I’m attracted to Kurt because he has so much life in him. He loves what he does, and he’s not afraid to show that. He’s amazing with his students, and the way he deconstructs modern music absolutely astounds me. He has one of the kindest hearts I’ve ever seen, and a selfless one, too. And yes, of course I think he’s gorgeous, but that’s not what this _is_.”

“Okay, I get it. I’m sorry, Blaine, I didn’t mean to offend.”

“Well, you did. And what was it you said? I could tell you to fuck off if you were overstepping? Well, you are. So, fuck off.”

“Jeez, Blaine, I said I was sorry.”

“I know. And logically I also know that you’re only saying this because you’re worried about me. So, this is me saying that you don’t need to be. It’s not your job to protect my heart anymore, Sebastian.”

Kurt’s heart has been beating faster and faster as the conversation has worn on, both out of the insecurities rushing to the surface at Sebastian’s words, and the sweetness of Blaine’s words (despite them being spoken like razors).

He can’t quite take it anymore, so he hurries around the corner. He sees that Sebastian has his mouth open, and his cheeks are bright red. Sebastian shuts his mouth when he sees Kurt, though.

“Hey,” Kurt says, slipping back into the chair next to Blaine.

“Hey,” Blaine replies, bringing his hand down to take Kurt’s. “Are you okay to go soon? I’m suddenly feeling tired.”

Kurt nods quickly, beyond thankful.

“Blaine…” Sebastian trails off, eyeing them both wearily.

“Just let me know how much it was, okay?” Blaine says to Sebastian. “I’ll Venmo you our half.”

“Blaine, come on.”

“Sorry, I just can’t right now,” Blaine says, standing up. “We’ll talk later.”

He then begins walking away, Kurt’s hand firmly in his. He’s walking so fast that Kurt barely has time to politely tell Sebastian what a pleasure it was to meet him.

Though, honestly, he’s not entirely sure if that’s true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/181806960165/unexpected-1824)


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I'm finally back with an update :) I'm sorry it's taking me so long to write this thing :/ this is why I try not to post WIPs haha my writing schedule is too erratic :P Hope you enjoy, and I'll see you soon for chapter 20!!

Kurt knows that by not asking Blaine why they left so quickly he’s basically telling him that he overheard his conversation with Sebastian, but he simply can’t bring himself to do it.

In fact, he’s having a hard time finding anything to say at all.

They’ve both been completely silent on the subway, Blaine clutching Kurt’s hand like a lifeline. Even though Kurt knows it would look bad if somebody from the university saw them, he doesn’t care. He can’t bring himself to let go.

He thinks he needs that connection as much as Blaine does.

When Blaine’s stop comes up, he asks Kurt if he’ll please come home with him. Kurt agrees, not ready to leave Blaine just yet, and especially not the way things are.

He hasn’t really been able to think straight during the entire ride back, and that doesn’t seem to be changing as they make the short walk from the subway station to Blaine’s apartment. It’s frustrating, because Kurt has no idea what Blaine might say once they’re alone, or how he will respond. He just knows that he’s confused, and annoyed, and frustrated. Anything more specific is a jumble.

Blaine lets them into the building, and then into his apartment. Once inside, he immediately falls onto his couch, letting out a long and loud groan. Kurt follows him, hesitantly sitting down next to Blaine.

They sit in silence for what feels like hours. Kurt keeps telling himself to say something, _anything_ , but his brain won’t listen. It’s like his jaw is glued shut. He’s not even sure he’ll be able to respond if Blaine says anything.

He feels Blaine’s eyes on him after some time and turns to look at him. Blaine’s eyes seem to have lost some of their hardness, and he reaches out a hand and places it gently on Kurt’s shoulder.

“So,” he begins. “How much of our conversation did you hear?”

Kurt can feel the heat rushing into his cheeks. His jaw unglues, thankfully, and he says, “More than I should have.” He looks away from Blaine, eyes going to his lap. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have eavesdropped.”

Blaine lets out a long breath. “Probably not, but I don’t mind.” His hand trails down Kurt’s arm and into Kurt’s hand, holding it loosely.

“Blaine…” Kurt sighs, leaning his head against the back of the couch. He turns it ever so slightly and lets his eyes meet Blaine’s. “What are we doing?”

This time, Blaine is the one who looks away. “I don’t know,” he says, honestly.

“Because, I like you,” Kurt continues. “I like you _so_ much, but this is…” he trails off again, dragging his eyes off of Blaine and down to where they’re hands are clasped together. “It’s so complicated.”

“I know,” Blaine says.

“I mean, my job, your life – are we crazy? Is this just… too much?”

He can hear Blaine swallow thickly, and then the grip on his hand tightens. “It probably is,” Blaine says. “Hell, it definitely is. It’s way, way too much, and far too fast.” Kurt looks up to see Blaine already watching him. “And I’m sorry for that.”

Kurt frowns. “Why are _you_ sorry?”

“Because,” Blaine says. “I’m the one who’s basically taken all these steps. I kissed you, I practically begged you to date me. I wanted you to meet Sebastian after only five dates. I…” Blaine sighs, and leans his own head against the back of the couch as well. “I think it’s way too clear that I’ve forgotten how to be in a new relationship.”

Kurt rubs his thumb over Blaine’s hand. He takes a deep breath, then asks, “Why did you and Sebastian get divorced?” Blaine doesn’t answer. He simply tilts his head to the side, so Kurt decides to continue. “Seeing you today, it wasn’t like seeing any other divorced couple I’ve ever seen. You have this ease in your relationship that I didn’t think was possible after going through the hell of divorce. I’m a little confused.”

Blaine nods. “I’m sorry,” he says. “Sometimes I forget that we haven’t known each other forever, and that you don’t already know everything about me.” The way he says it makes Kurt smile just a bit. Blaine smiles back.

“I get it,” Kurt says. “I feel the same way about you.”

Blaine’s smile widens slightly. Then, his eyes dip down again, and he squeezes Kurt’s hand tightly.

“Sebastian is my best friend,” Blaine says. He keeps his eyes down. “He’s always been my best friend. We were the typical cliché, the best friends who fell in love. It seemed perfect, back then. We already knew each other, we liked each other a lot, it just seemed like the next logical step.”

He sighs, then continues, “The thing is, as the years went on the romantic aspect of our relationship kind of… died. We stopped going on date nights, stopped having sex. I don’t think we kissed once during the last year of our marriage.” He shrugs, and Kurt follows his line of sight to see that he’s staring at their hands.

Kurt looks back up at Blaine’s face as the man continues. “It was years coming. At least five, if not almost a decade. We lived together, took care of our children, and had an incredible time together, but that was it. There was no spark. It was like we’d reverted to the relationship we had before we started going out, but neither of us seemed to realize it. Until Marco.”

Kurt frowns. “Sebastian’s boyfriend?”

Blaine nods. “I could tell he liked him. They met at the gym, and suddenly he was all Sebastian could talk about. It was like something had come alive inside of him, and it…” Blaine’s smile is back as he shakes his head. “It made me so happy. Which sounds crazy, because who’s happy about their husband suddenly spending all his time talking and thinking about another guy?”

“Blaine…”

“That’s when I realized what had happened. I thought back on the past few years of our marriage and realized we weren’t in love anymore, neither of us. We were best friends, just like we’d always been. And even though he was my husband, and I should have wanted nothing else, it took everything I had not to tell Sebastian to just get over himself and ask Marco on a date already.”

“Blaine!” Kurt can’t help but laugh at that, despite the oddity of the situation.

Blaine chuckles along. “I know, I know. That was when I knew it was time to pull the plug.” He shrugs. “At first Sebastian felt like my suggestion for divorce came out of nowhere, but the more we talked about it, the more he saw things my way. He realized that what he felt for Marco was more than just the excitement of making a new friend, and during the weeks that we talked this all through before making a final decision he also realized that he’d felt more for Marco since meeting him than he had for me in over a decade.”

Kurt bites his bottom lip. “Didn’t that sting?”

Blaine instantly shakes his head. “No, because I felt the same. Well, I didn’t have somebody new in my life yet, but I understood. It made sense, and as his best friend, I just wanted him to be happy. I still do. We were happy together, of course, but our marriage was holding us back. We decided that if we got a divorce we could keep being best friends, but we’d also be free to be with someone we could really love.”

Kurt licks his lips as Blaine finishes his story with a simple shrug. His heart feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest. “That’s… honestly, Blaine, that’s a little crazy.”

Blaine laughs out loud at that. “I know! God, I know. All our mutual friends thought we were insane. They didn’t think it would work. They thought one of us would realize we actually did love the other and regret everything, or that we’d actually go through the whole divorce proceedings and grow to hate each other because of it all. But, well. We didn’t. Everything was perfectly amicable. We actually had a blast dividing up our assets. It was like a fun trip down memory lane.”

“You’re so weird,” Kurt says, shifting a little closer. Blaine finally raises his eyes up and meets Kurt’s gaze.

“Yeah, I know,” he says, smiling that soft smile that makes Kurt’s knees weak.

Kurt presses his lips together to stop from smiling too widely. “And… your kids? Did they not understand what was going on?”

Blaine’s smile falls, and Kurt instantly regrets the question. “I don’t know,” Blaine says. “They’ve basically tuned out every word I said since I told them that their dad and I were getting divorced. It’s like they put up a wall. They wouldn’t let me explain; they just got angry.”

“I’m so sorry, Blaine,” Kurt says, leaning in even closer so that he can rest his head on Blaine’s shoulder.

“Me, too,” Blaine says, then snorts. “Or… whatever, you know what I mean.”

Kurt smiles against Blaine’s shoulder. He squeezes his hand tight, and feels Blaine press a feather-light kiss to his forehead.

They sit in silence for a moment, until Kurt simply can’t take it and has to say, “Can I say something absolutely terrible?”

Blaine says, “I can’t imagine you ever saying anything horrible.”

Kurt is still smiling at how sappy his boyfriend is, even as he says, “I’m really jealous of the relationship you have with Sebastian.”

This time it’s Blaine who starts to rub over the back of Kurt’s hand with his thumb. “You are?”

“Yes, and it’s gross. I hate jealousy. I’ve always felt is symbolized a lack of trust in a relationship, and I’ve tried my hardest to avoid it in every relationship I’ve been in, but…” he sighs, snuggling further into Blaine. “I can’t help it. You two are so close, and you’ve shared so much. I know you just told me that you’re just best friends, and I believe that that’s all you’ll ever be, but…”

“Kurt,” Blaine says. “It’s okay to feel jealous about that.”

“No, it’s not! Because I want you to know that I trust you, and that I don’t think you’re going to go running off with Sebastian. It’s just—”

“That’s why it’s okay, Kurt,” Blaine says. “Because you’re jealous of our past, not our present.”

Kurt sighs. “Well, yes, but I am a little jealous of your present, too. I mean, seeing you together today, talking, laughing. All your inside jokes. I guess it just made me feel a little insecure.”

Blaine squeezes his hand tightly. “Kurt, it’s really okay. I… I understand. I really do. I don’t think you don’t trust me because of this.” He drops his head on top of Kurt’s and says, “You know we actually used to be worse?”

“Really?”

Blaine snorts. “Yeah. Marco basically blew up at us one night at dinner, saying that if we were going to be just friends that we had to learn how to be _just friends_. That even though the feelings weren’t there, there were still habits we’d picked up being married to each other for so many years that we needed to break. That there were boundaries we needed to put up.” He shrugs a little. “And since he’s a therapist, he obviously knows what he’s talking about.”

Kurt smiles, leaning impossibly closer into Blaine.

“So, that being said,” Blaine continues, “if there’s anything that you notice Sebastian and I doing that makes you uncomfortable, please tell me. I…” he trails off for a moment, and Kurt can feel him taking a deep breath. “It’s more important to me that you feel comfortable than that I maintain my super close friendship with Sebastian. I’ve been through enough with him to know that we’re going to be friends forever, no matter what. Even if that means seeing each other less, or whatever you need to feel comfortable in this relationship.”

Kurt pulls away from Blaine, wondering if there are literal hearts dancing around his head. He lets go of Blaine’s hand and brings it up to Blaine’s face, pulling him in for a deep kiss.

Blaine’s lips move smoothly against his own, and Kurt licks into Blaine’s mouth softly. He pulls away after a moment and says, “Thank you.” His eyes fall to Blaine’s lips, pink and parted and oh so tempting. “It means so much to me that you would even say that.”

Blaine’s lips curve up into a smile, and then they’re back on Kurt’s. His own hand comes up to the nape of Kurt’s neck and pulls him closer. Kurt lets out a happy little moan into Blaine’s mouth, and feels Blaine smile against his lips.

“Do you, um,” Blaine begins to ask as he pulls away slightly from the kiss. “Do you want to stay here tonight?” He opens his eyes, meeting Kurt with absolute desire and affection. “We don’t have to do anything, but…”

“Blaine,” Kurt tilts Blaine’s face up a little, grinning at him. “Yes.”

“Yes?” Blaine breaks out in a grin as well.

Kurt pulls him into a deep, sensual kiss, feeling his heart begin to speed up. “Yes,” he says as they separate. “But,” he leans their foreheads together, “As for not doing anything…” he brings his hand down and pops open the first button of Blaine’s shirt. “Well, that idea I’m not so sold on.”

Blaine’s grin turns into a smirk and he whispers, “Good. I wasn’t either,” before leaning back up and kissing the breath out of Kurt’s lungs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/182013298095/unexpected-1924)


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating is going up a bit in this one lads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;) Sorry once again for the wait, and I hope you enjoy this update!! I’m not sure when the next one will come. I have part of it written, but it’s going to be a long chapter. So hopefully soon? My goal is still to finish this fic before January ends, but lbr when have I ever actually managed to meet a self-imposed deadline?
> 
> Thanks so much to those of you who are still around <3 Love you so much, thank you for all your comments, kudos, likes, and reblogs. You mean the world to me. I love you <3

Kurt wakes up feeling happy and loose. He stretches his arms over his head and curls his toes. Then, he turns to face the man in bed next to him, and feels a silly smile growing on his face.

As if sensing his gaze, Blaine’s eyes flutter open. His eyes meet Kurt’s and he smiles softly before closing his eyes again and murmuring a quiet, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Kurt replies, shuffling closer to Blaine and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

When Blaine sighs happily, Kurt scoots back and out of the bed, hurrying to the bathroom. He hears Blaine call out, “There’s an extra toothbrush under the sink,” and grins.

He finds Blaine waiting for him by the bathroom door, still naked and smirking. Kurt leans in to kiss him but is stopped just moments before their lips connect.

“Not that I don’t want to,” Blaine says, looking up at Kurt through his lashes. “But I’m pretty sure if I don’t get into that bathroom right now, I’m going to burst.”

Kurt bursts out laughing and lets Blaine past, but not without a light pat on the ass as he goes. (start)

While waiting for Blaine, Kurt gets back under the covers, sighing happily as he does. Blaine’s bed is ridiculously comfortable, and Kurt wonders if Blaine would care too much if he just stayed in it forever.

Based on the previous night, he doesn’t think he would.

“Hey,” Blaine says, pulling up the other side of the blanket and getting back in with Kurt. “You look cozy.”

“I’m the coziest,” Kurt replies, smiling sleepily. Blaine moves himself closer to him, and Kurt opens his arms to let Blaine fall into them. He does so happily. Kurt kisses the top of his head and says, “Now I’m even cozier.”

“Good,” Blaine says, throwing an arm over Kurt’s middle. He looks up at Kurt, resting his chin on Kurt’s chest, and says, “Last night was amazing.”

“Oh my god,” Kurt grins, letting his head fall back against the pillow. “I still haven’t recovered.”

“Yeah?”

Kurt rolls his eyes, though his grin doesn’t disappear. “Don’t fish, Blaine, it’s not attractive.”

“Well, I’m sorry,” Blaine flutters his eyelashes. “I’ve just never slept with anyone other than Sebastian. Forgive me for wanting extra confirmation that it was good.”

Kurt’s eyebrows raise, and he lifts his head so he can see Blaine better. “Really?”

Blaine nods, eyebrows furrowing. “I thought I’d already told you this.”

“You told me you’d only ever been in a relationship with Sebastian. You don’t have to be in a relationship with someone to have sex.”

“Call me old fashioned, but that’s never been my style.” He brings his other arm up to Kurt’s chest so he can rest his head on it. “So, now that you’re fully aware of how much last night meant to me – really. It was good?”

Kurt reaches a hand down and runs it through Blaine’s curls, loving the hints of grey peppered throughout them. “It was wonderful, Blaine. I mean it.”

Blaine smiles up at him, wide and earnest. “Good. It was wonderful for me too, in case you were wondering.”

Kurt chuckles, then winks and says, “Flatterer.”

“No, really,” Blaine says. “You are… very good. At sex.”

“Oh yeah?” Kurt wiggles his eyebrows and Blaine laughs.

“Now who’s fishing,” he teases. Kurt laughs along with him.

When their laughter dies down, Blaine says, “And you know what?”

“What?”

“I usually try and forget that you’re my professor because I hate thinking about what would happen if we got caught, but last night…” Blaine hides part of his face under his arm, but Kurt can see that the top of his cheeks are bright red. “Well, somehow knowing you’re my professor and we’re not supposed to be doing this made it way, way hotter.”

Kurt’s lips curve into a smirk as he reveals, “Yes, I heard what Sebastian said about your authority kink.”

“Oh my god,” Blaine buries his face completely in Kurt’s chest. “I don’t have an authority kink,” he mumbles.

“Really? Because you just said—”

“Okay, listen,” Blaine raises his head, glaring a little. “Just because I liked knowing that you’re my professor, and that I’m your student, and that you are more in control than me, and just because I might like being bossed around in bed a little doesn’t mean…”

He trails off, clearly noticing Kurt’s raised eyebrows. He hides his face again and mumbles, “Yeah, fine, whatever, I have an authority kink.”

“Aw, don’t be shy,” Kurt says, rubbing his arm over Blaine’s back. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I know, but I don’t want you to think that that’s the only reason that I’m with you. I really like you, Kurt, and I know Sebastian—”

“It’s okay, Blaine,” Kurt says, chuckling. “I heard you last night. It was very sweet how you defended our relationship, by the way.”

“He so overstepped,” Blaine says. “I get it comes from a place of concern, but…”

“But when your ex-husband is the one concerned about your new relationship, regardless of how well the relationship ended, it still feels uncalled for. And biased.”

“Exactly,” Blaine replies. “I’ve never said _anything_ about his relationship with Marco; though trust me, I could.”

Kurt chuckles. “Well, I’m proud of you for being mature. Though,” he raises his eyebrow a little, “if you ever feel like being immature and want to let it all out, you should know that I live for gossip.”

“You?” Blaine gasps. “The respectable NYU professor?”

Kurt deadpans, “I’m literally in bed with my TA right now.”

Blaine laughs at that, running his fingers up and down Kurt’s side. “I’m glad you are.”

“Me, too,” Kurt says. “And, hey. That authority thing?” Blaine goes to hide his face again, and so Kurt says, “I’ve been known to get a little bossy in bed, so. If you ever want to explore it…”

Blaine leans up and presses their lips together tightly. “You’re the fucking best, Kurt.”

Kurt waves a dismissive hand, though he can feel his cheeks heating up. “You’re just saying that.”

“No, I mean it,” Blaine says. “You’re… every time I think I can’t like you more, you go and say something like that. You’re incredible.”

“Now stop that,” Kurt says. “I am very cool, yes, but I’m not perfect.”

Blaine raises an eyebrow and says, “I never said you were perfect.”

Kurt laughs at that and reaches a hand down to tickle Blaine. Blaine laughs as Kurt says, “Brat!”

They manage to calm down after a bit. Blaine scoots further down Kurt’s body, now resting his cheek on Kurt’s stomach. Kurt is way too aware of the fact that his naked dick is right in Blaine’s line of sight and can feel himself starting to harden.

“Oh, hello,” Blaine says, and even though Kurt can’t quite see his face, he can hear the grin in his voice.

“Shut up,” Kurt says, covering his face with his arm. “Your face is right there, Blaine. What did you expect?”

Blaine chuckles at that. Then, he says, “Well. I’m in no way opposed to this, but before we do, I actually have something to ask you.”

“Can you ask me fast?”

“Yes.” Blaine says, still chuckling. “I really want to spend Thanksgiving with you.”

“Is that the question? Because—”

“No, it’s a bit more than that,” Blaine says. “You can think about this, okay? I don’t need you to answer right now.”

“Alright,” Kurt says.

“Well, I’m celebrating Thanksgiving with my family. As in, Sebastian, Marco, and my kids.”

Kurt’s throat dries, and he can feel his erection starting to wilt just a little. “Oh.”

“That’s why I want you to think about it, and I will totally accept if you don’t want to. I know it’s still early in our relationship, and I was completely serious when I told you that I’d spend less time with Sebastian if you want me to. And I know that it would mean telling three more people about our relationship. I just…” Blaine sighs, and his breath hits Kurt’s dick and oh, no longer wilting. “I really like you, and I want to spend as much time as possible with you, but I can’t miss this meal. My kids barely agree to see me as it is, so right now holiday’s are really all I have. And, honestly, I just want them to know you.”

Kurt licks his lips, nodding. “I get it. And I promise I’ll think about it. Now, can you…?”

He hears Blaine chuckle and then watches as his head dips down until his lips close around the head of Kurt’s dick.

Kurt groans, head falling back against the pillow. He brings a hand down and threads it through Blaine’s curls. Blaine hums in appreciation and begins to bob his head up and down on Kurt’s cock.

After several wonderful minutes, Blaine pops off and says, “You know, this is literally the biggest cliché in the world.”

Kurt’s fingers tighten in his hair. “Blaine…”

“I mean, come on. The student going down on the teacher? Talk about—”

“Blaine,” Kurt’s fingers tighten even more, and he lifts his head to stare down at his boyfriend. “None of the words you are saying have any meaning to me right now.”

Blaine grins up at him. He rolls his eyes a little and then says, “Well, in that case,” and gets right back to work.

Kurt loses track of time as Blaine goes down on him like an absolute pro. He moans, and groans, and makes every manner of sound imaginable until Blaine brings him off. He even fucking swallows.

“Jesus,’ Kurt says. “You are… very good at that.”

“Well, you know,” Blaine flutters his eyelashes up at him as Kurt eases his grip on the older man’s hair. “I really need that A, professor.”

“Oh, my god,” Kurt says, throwing an arm over his face and laughing. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Come on,” Blaine trails a couple of fingers up Kurt’s side. “You know it turns you on, too.”

“What I do know is that I was planning on returning the favor, but now—”

Blaine immediately sits up and says, “Okay, okay, I’ll stop.”

Kurt laughs and leans down to kiss him. As they kiss, they shuffle positions until Blaine’s head is against the pillows and Kurt is hovering over him. He begins to kiss down Blaine’s chest, stopping just before he reaches his dick.

He stops, simply staring for a few moments, wanting Blaine to feel a hint of what he felt before.

Blaine whines out his name, and Kurt smirks. He looks up at Blaine and says, “How’s this for a cliché?” and takes as much of his cock in his mouth as he can.

It’s clear that going down on Kurt had worked Blaine up, because he comes a lot faster than he had the night before. Kurt doesn’t mind – in fact, he’s a little proud of how quickly he got his fifty-year-old boyfriend to come.

Not that he’d tell Blaine that.

Blaine is breathing heavily when Kurt slides up so they’re face to face. He finishes swallowing the last of Blaine’s come before pressing their lips together. Blaine lazily brings him closer, tongue dancing around Kurt’s.

“ _You’re_ really good at that,” Blaine says.

“Well,” Kurt says, feeling mischievous, “I really need a good evaluation from you.”

Blaine scoffs. “You’re the worst,” he says. “Forget my authority kink. You are obviously a child and have no authority over anyone.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow. He lowers his voice as he whispers, “Turn over.”

Blaine stares at him, eyes wide, and then does, chest moving faster as he turns. Kurt grins as he does it, and then curls up behind him, hands splaying over the softness of his belly.

“No authority my ass,” he whispers into Blaine’s ear.

He can feel Blaine shiver before he replies, “You’re still the worst.”

“I’ll take it,” Kurt says, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Blaine’s neck.

“And,” Blaine gasps when Kurt kisses his neck again. “And you’ll think about Thanksgiving?”

Kurt peppers a few more kisses onto Blaine’s neck, then says, “No.”

“But—”

“I don’t need to think about it,” he says. “I’m sorry I seemed reticent before. I know this is important to you, and that makes it important to me. So, yes, of course I’ll spend Thanksgiving with your family.”

Blaine turns his head toward Kurt, grinning widely. “Really?”

Kurt nods, kissing his cheek. Then, he says, “But if Sebastian calls me a mid-life crisis again, I _will_ kick his ass.”

Blaine’s only reply is to laugh and cuddle in closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/182137633195/unexpected-2024)


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for the ridiculously long wait!!!!!!!!! This chapter is super long, though, so hopefully that makes up for it? 
> 
> Things get a little intense in this one, so buckle in! We’re entering the final stretch of the fic, so I hope you’ll all stick around for the conclusion of this little story :) I hope you enjoy this chapter (and please forgive any mistakes, i’m planning on coming back and polishing this fic a bit once it’s all written), and i’ll see you (hopefully soon!) for the next one!!

After their weekend together, Kurt worried it might become more difficult to hide their relationship, as if they’d suddenly have “WE SLEPT WITH EACH OTHER” written on their foreheads.

By the time Monday ends, though, he realises his worries were for naught. Blaine is just as discreet as before, and Kurt is able to control his facial expression a lot better than he thought he would.

Though, he will admit that after seeing Blaine sitting in the front row of his class, staring up at him from behind those damned glasses of his, sucking on the end of his pen when he isn’t diligently taking notes… Yeah, he’s starting to get Blaine’s kink.

**

The few weeks before Thanksgiving fly by, and soon enough Kurt is dismissing his final class before the holidays, lazily reminding them that they have an essay due when they get back and that they should definitely already be studying for his final exam.

He tidies up his things and pushes in the few chairs his students have left un-pushed. Then, he grabs his bag and turns toward the door, jumping a little in surprise when he sees Blaine leaning against the doorframe casually.

“Hey, Professor Hummel,” he says, grinning. Kurt’s cheeks heat up at that, memories of their past weekend spent at Blaine’s apartment with Blaine moaning those exact words into his skin as Kurt fucked him desperately sneaking into his mind.

“Blaine,” Kurt replies. “What are you doing here? Didn’t your classes finish an hour ago?”

Blaine shrugs. “I had some work I wanted to finish before the break.”

“Such a diligent worker.”

“Well, of course. It’s not like I’d have ulterior motives for staying behind.”

Kurt chuckles, shaking his head. He walks to the door, slipping one hand in his pocket and fishing out his house keys. He casually places them in Blaine’s hand and then puts his hand back in his pocket.

“I’m glad you did,” Kurt says. “It’s good to see you one last time before the break.”

“You as well,” Blaine says, eyes sparkling as he slips the keys into his own pocket.

“Well, I have a few things to grab from my office before I head home.”

Blaine grins, bouncing on the heels of his feet. “Right, well. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Professor Hummel.”

Kurt smiles back. “You as well, Blaine.”

“Oh, I will,” he says. “You see, my amazing boyfriend agreed to meet my family. I’m really excited about it.”

Kurt presses his lips together to stop himself from laughing. “He sounds like a pretty cool guy.”

“He is. He’s the absolute best.”

“Well, Blaine, I hope you have a wonderful time.”

“You as well, Professor Hummel,” Blaine throws him one last smile and then starts walking down the hallway. Kurt watches him go for just a moment, chuckling to himself.

That’s one of the things he loves the most about Blaine. That even though he’s older than Kurt, and in an age of life where absolutely nobody would question his status as an adult, he’s not afraid to have fun. He’s not afraid to be childish, or silly.

It’s invigorating. It’s exciting. It keeps things interesting.

He smiles as he heads to his office, already thinking of how Blaine will be waiting for him when he gets home. Now that’s a thought he could get used to.

**

Blaine spends the night on Tuesday, and they spend their Wednesday off together. Blaine has to bring a couple of pies to his Thanksgiving, so they work together to make those. Somehow Kurt ends up completely covered in flour, while Blaine looks as clean as he did after his shower that morning. How, Kurt has no idea.

While the pies bake, they take a break to do a bit of work. Once the pies are out of the oven and cooling, they take a break from working and have sex.

Something Kurt has always loved since he became sexually active is just how different sex can be with every person. He loves not knowing what to expect that first time, and he loves slowly discovering how to push every one of his lover’s buttons.

Sex with Blaine is wonderful for so many different reasons. First, even though he’s only slept with one man in his entire life, he did spend over thirty years sleeping with said man. As such, he is very, very good, especially at blowjobs. Even better than Kurt, he’s not ashamed to admit. Second, he’s so damn enthusiastic. It’s like every time they sleep together, he can’t even believe it’s happening. It makes Kurt feel more excited about it, and therefore turns all their love making into a very rigorous activity. Third, he’s surprising. Kurt never knows what to expect with him, and he loves that. He feels like he’ll never stop learning how to please Blaine, and he can’t wait for every moment he spends doing that.

Once they’ve cleaned up and taken a short nap, Kurt does a bit more marking and Blaine works on an essay for one of his classes (for which he adamantly refuses Kurt’s help, even though it’s clear that he’s struggling with it).

They finish their day by watching a movie and cuddling on the couch while munching on some pizza, both too lazy to make dinner at that point.

When the movie ends, Blaine tells Kurt, “I think this was one of the best days of my life.”

Kurt kisses him soundly and says, “I think it was one of mine, too.”

**

They don’t have to be at Sebastian and Marco’s until five, so they move slowly through their day. Blaine has to go back to his apartment to change (seeing as their sleepover had been rather spontaneous), and he returns after about an hour freshly showered and with an overnight bag that makes Kurt’s stomach swoop.

Closer to when they have to leave, they prepare a giant bowl of mashed potatoes, and a large salad (two more requests from Sebastian). Then, they careful stack everything into a precarious duffle bag and head out.

As they sit on the subway, the food between their legs, Kurt turns to Blaine and asks the question he’s been thinking of since he agreed to this. “Is there anything I should know before we arrive?”

Blaine frowns at him. “What do you mean?”

“Any topics to avoid, or topics to be sure to bring up? How do I make this as painless as possible?”

Blaine rolls his eyes up at him, smiling fondly. “Just be yourself. It’ll all be fine.”

“You say that now,” Kurt says. “But just wait until I accidentally ask Marco about his favorite musical and it turns out that he hates them all.”

Blaine laughs, shaking his head. “Marco likes Les Mis, Sebastian likes Hairspray. I like all of them. My kids enjoy musicals, but only because I forced them to watch them when they were younger. Any more worries?”

Kurt bites down on his bottom lip, nervous. He glances at Blaine cautiously as he asks, “Are your kids going to tell anybody about our relationship?”

Blaine instantly shakes his head. “No.”

“But—”

“Sebastian already spoke with them,” Blaine says. “He promised me that they wouldn’t say anything. They may not… like me,” Kurt reaches out and rubs over his knee briefly at that, which makes Blaine smile slightly. “But I promise, they’re not going to ruin your career because of that. They may be moody and a little dramatic, but they’re not cruel.”

Kurt thinks back to what Jane told him about Blaine’s father, and wonders if that’s really true.

“Kurt,” Blaine says, eyes widening to ensure Kurt look directly at them. “They won’t tell anybody. I swear.”

Kurt nods, telling himself that he needs to trust Blaine. He’s only had one very brief, very negative interaction with one of Blaine’s children. Blaine raised them. He would know better than Kurt.

They reach their stop and work together to carry the duffle bag the short walk to Sebastian’s apartment. He’s sure they look ridiculous, each carrying one strap of the bag, balancing it between them, but Kurt kind of doesn’t care.

Despite everything, he has to admit that he’s excited about this. Meeting Blaine’s kids, his _family_ , makes their relationship seem so official. Having been asked to bring food together (Kurt saw Sebastian’s texts, they very specifically said _Can you and Kurt bring…_ ) feels so domestic.

Kurt loves it. It feels like a validation of their relationship and, seeing as nobody else can know about them for at least another month, it feels really good.

They reach Sebastian’s apartment building and Blaine presses down on the buzzer three times successively. It’s clearly some kind of code for them, as they are buzzed in without question.

Kurt follows Blaine through to the elevator, trying to calm his beating heart. All his complicated feelings toward Sebastian and Blaine’s kids aside, this is still a big step. One he’s excited about, of course, but also nervous about. He’s officially meeting Blaine’s _children_. At this point in his life, it feels more important than meeting Blaine’s mother, or having Blaine meet _his_ parents.

When they reach the eighth floor, Kurt instantly sees that one of the doors is propped open. They make their way towards it, Kurt telling himself to calm down. His heart doesn’t listen, of course, beating faster and faster with every step closer to the door.

Blaine knocks on the open door before stepping in, calling out a happy, “Hello!”

Kurt hears Sebastian call back, “Hey, Blaine,” from somewhere in the apartment. Then, an incredibly tall, dark skinned man appears in front of them, smiling widely, displaying a set of incredibly white teeth.

“Let me help you with that,” he says, reaching down and taking their duffle bag from them. “Thanks so much for making the pies and mashed potatoes. We’ve been cooking like crazy over here, and I really don’t think we would’ve had time.”

“It was nothing,” Blaine says, taking a step back and wrapping his arm around Kurt’s waist.

The man turns his smile to Kurt. “You must be Kurt,” he says, shifting the duffle bag to one hand and holding the other out. “I’m Marco. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”

Kurt stops the snide _all bad, I assume_ from leaving his lips, instead smiling and leaning forward to shake his hand.

“Wonderful to meet you,” he says, shaking Marco’s hand. Marco nods, then drops his hand.

“I better get this to the kitchen,” he says, pointing to the duffle bag. Then, he turns to Blaine and says, “Jane is cooking with Seb in the kitchen, and Rod is playing that shooter game of his in the living room,” he rolls his eyes a little as he says it, but there’s a fondness in his eyes. Kurt glances at Blaine, who nods, though his own smile has faded a little.

Marco disappears, and Kurt turns to his boyfriend, taking his hand. “You okay?”

Blaine smiles, but it seems forced. “I just forget sometimes.” Kurt raises an eyebrow, and Blaine shrugs. “That he’s here all the time, and I’m not.”

Kurt sighs, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Blaine’s temple. “It’s going to be okay,” he says.

Blaine looks up at him, blushing a little, and this time his smile seems more genuine. “I know. You’re here with me.”

Kurt kisses him properly this time, squeezing his hand tightly as he does.

When they separate, Blaine says, “Okay, let’s go say hello to everybody else.”

They head to the living room first, Blaine leading the way. There’s a teenager sitting on the couch, thumbs moving quickly over a video game controller as some war scenario plays out on screen.

“Roderick,” Blaine says.

The boy grunts in acknowledgement, but his eyes don’t leave the screen.

Blaine glances up at Kurt, then clears his throat and says, “Rod, can you pause that for a second? I have someone I want you to meet.”

“I know,” Roderick says, glancing briefly at Kurt before turning back to his game. “Your illegal boyfriend, or whatever.”

Kurt’s eyes widen. “Illegal?” he asks.

Blaine shakes his head. “Roderick, this is Kurt. He’s not my illegal anything, just my boyfriend.”

“Right, but we can’t tell the school, because he’ll get fired.” He keeps his eyes on the television. “Don’t worry, mum’s the word.”

Blaine huffs. “You’re being a little rude to our guest, young man.”

Roderick groans loudly, and the pause screen appears on the TV. He turns to Blaine, glaring behind thick glasses. “He’s not _our_ guest, Dad. He’s my guest, and Jane’s, and Dad’s, and Marco’s. You’re a guest, too. You don’t get to take ownership of that.”

Blaine presses his lips together, and Kurt just squeezes his hand tighter.

“Roderick—”

“Whatever,” he says, turning to look at Kurt. “Nice to meet you, man. Don’t worry, I won’t get you fired, or anything.” He then turns the game back on as though nothing happened.

Blaine’s free hand is curled into a fist, and Kurt begins to tug on his hand. “Why don’t we go say hi to Sebastian and your daughter?”

Blaine keeps staring at his son, then mumbles, “Yeah, okay,” and together they leave the teenager alone.

Blaine leads the way to the kitchen, eyes down. Kurt lets go of his hand and instead wraps his arm around Blaine’s waist, pulling him close. Blaine leans his head on his shoulder, which makes them walk a little slower, but Kurt doesn’t mind. It’s worth it.

The kitchen is a mess, with Sebastian and Jane flitting about, clearly putting the finishing touches on everything. Just as they walk in a timer dings, and Sebastian hurries to the oven.

“Hey,” Blaine says softly. “Uh, anything we can do to help?”

“Here,” Jane shoves a plate of vegetables into his arms. “Start putting these out on the table. I’m going to cut the turkey.”

“Yeah, sure,” Blaine says. “But, Jane, can I first—”

“Come on, Dad,” she says, back turned from him. “Everything is almost finished, and we want to eat while everything is still hot. We can do introductions later.”

Blaine licks his lips, watching her with heavy eyes. He nods, and he and Kurt start working to put the prepared dishes out on the table.

As they set things out, Kurt walks up to Blaine, hugging him from behind. Blaine sags into him, and Kurt presses a kiss to his neck.

“I’m sorry I made you come to this,” Blaine says. “I—I don’t know why I thought it would be different because it’s the holiday.”

“Don’t worry,” Kurt says. “I’m glad I’m here. I want to be here for you.” He kisses him again, then whispers, “You need someone on your side.”

Blaine presses closer to him, and Kurt holds him tight, enjoying the moment of closeness.

He has a feeling they won’t be getting many more moments like this for the rest of the evening.

**

Sebastian is just as kind as he was the last time they met, though now that Kurt knows what he really thinks of him he can’t help but notice the cautious way he keeps glancing at him. Marco, on the other hand, seems to feel no apprehension, and instead seems to be playing peacemaker between Blaine and the kids.

As dinner goes on, Kurt becomes more and more confused by the dynamic the five of them have. How is it that Blaine and Sebastian are still so close, to the point where Blaine and Marco can talk casually with absolutely no animosity between them, and yet their kids show so much animosity towards Blaine. It’s like they’ve chosen a side, but as far as Kurt can see, there isn’t a side to choose.

He can tell that it’s getting to Blaine, too. He sags a little further in his seat every time one of his kids ignores one of his questions, or answers with an unnecessary amount of sarcasm in their voice. Marco tries to keep the peace, but it’s more than clear that neither Jane nor Roderick want Blaine at the table.

It hurts Kurt more than he imagined, watching it. Blaine had been so excited about this dinner. He kept talking to Kurt about how he couldn’t wait for Kurt to meet his family. Despite the awkward circumstances, he’d gone into this with the best expectations, and watching him slowly deflate as things go from bad to worse makes Kurt’s heart sink down to his stomach.

He wants so badly to say something and doesn’t understand why neither Sebastian nor Marco are doing anything besides glaring at the kids, or giving them a sharp, “Roderick!” or, “Jane!” when they say something particularly uncalled for.

It all reaches a boiling point when Marco asks Blaine about his studies. Things are winding down, meal-wise, but tensions are high, and Kurt can feel that someone is about to snap. Though, he’s not sure exactly who.

Maybe it’ll be him.

“Um, it’s going well,” Blaine says. “Busy but worth it. I’m having a really good time.”

Roderick glances between him and Kurt, then snorts and says, “Yeah, I bet.”

“Roderick, come on,” Sebastian says, elbowing his son. He looks up, eyes meeting Kurt’s and mouths, “Sorry.”

Kurt frowns. He’s not exactly the one they should be apologizing to.

“It’s, uh.” Blaine looks down to his empty plate. “It’s fine. And anyway, I don’t want to bore you with my university stories. It’s mostly just studying, writing essays, and marking, so…”

Kurt presses his lips together, wanting to tell Blaine that he should be allowed to talk about those things. Jane spent a good half hour talking about those things, and nobody made her feel like it was boring. He’s barely said anything for the entire meal, and every time he does, he gets shut down. 

The man sitting next to Kurt is nothing like the man he fell for. There’s barely any life in him, just sadness and disappointment. It breaks Kurt’s heart.

“I doubt it’s all that boring,” Marco says. “I mean, you are in an illicit affair with your professor,” he wiggles his eyebrows, clearly going for teasing. “Why don’t you tell us how you and Kurt met?”

Kurt glances around the table, sees the way Jane rolls her eyes and Roderick pulls out his phone. Sebastian is looking down at his plate, and Marco seems to be sweating a little in his attempts to keep things cool.

“Oh, uh. I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that.” Blaine says. He glances at the kids, then says, “I can tell you some other time.”

“But—”

“Hey, Dad,” Jane says, eyes on Sebastian. “I’m going to start heating up those pies, okay?”

Blaine’s eyes are still stuck on his plate, and he’s so slumped in his chair that Kurt is surprised he isn’t fully on the floor. He thinks he can see tears starting to form in his eyes, and Kurt’s fist clench at the sight of it.

“Jane, we’re not all finished yet. And your Dad was just going to tell us about how he’s been doing.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jane says.

Kurt can feel it. He can tell he’s about to snap, about to lose his cool in front of essential strangers. His nails dig into his palms and he sucks in a deep breath, feeling his anger boil inside him.

Blaine, though, reaches his breaking point before Kurt can.

“God, I don’t get it!” He says the words loudly, but it’s not really a shout. His eyes are shining with still unshed tears, and he keeps them on his plate, but Kurt can see that his hands are shaking in his lap. “I don’t understand what I did, I don’t get why every time I come here, every time I try and spend time with my children it comes to… to…” he covers his mouth with his hands, and tears start to slip from his eyes.

Kurt instantly wraps an arm around him, but Blaine shakes his head, pushing him off softly. He looks up, lowering his hands, staring at Jane, then Roderick.

“Just tell me what I did,” he says, voice soft. “Tell me why you hate me so much, so I can actually know how to fix it. Because I can’t keep trying, and trying, building my hopes up for these events, going out of my way to see you and grow close to you again if _this_ just happens every goddamn time.”

“Blaine…” Sebastian says, raising a hand as though to reach out to him. “Um,” he glances around the table. “Maybe now isn’t the best—”

“Oh, so now you have something to say?” Kurt can’t stop himself from snapping.

Sebastian immediately sits ramrod straight in his chair, eyes narrowing in Kurt’s direction. “Excuse me?”

Kurt takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “You’ve just been sitting there all evening, letting your boyfriend broker the peace, practically encouraging your kids to be openly hostile to their own father this entire evening.” He can feel his anger deep in his gut, and even though he knows he shouldn’t, he can’t stop talking. “What is your problem?”

“What is _my_ problem?”

“What is _all_ of your problem?!” Kurt turns now to the kids, who are both very obviously looking away. “Do you even know how excited Blaine was for this? How much he wanted me to meet you? How he kept talking about how incredible his daughter’s photography is,” he says, glaring at her. “And his son’s music,” he glares at the boy this time, catching him shifting uncomfortably in his chair. “How fucking important you are to him,” he says to Sebastian this time. “How you’re his _best friend_ , and how badly he wants us to get along because of how much you mean to him. How much you all mean to him.

“But then we get here, and this? You won’t even let him get in a word edgewise without some smartass response, and _you_ ,” his glare on Sebastian intensifies, “acting like it’s all okay. Like they should be allowed to talk to him this way. Do you even care? He’s supposed to be your best friend!”

He’s breathing heavily when he finishes, fists clenched on top of the table. He looks around the table, fire in his eyes.

Nobody speaks.

His jaw clenches and he asks, “Well?!”

“You don’t get to do this.”

It’s Jane who finally speaks. She looks up at Kurt, and he can tell she’s just as angry as him.

“I’ve had to sit here all evening, watching my boyfriend fucking disappear in the presence of his very own family, so yes, I think I do.”

“No, you _don’t_ ,” she says. “You don’t even know, you don’t even get it.” She’s shaking, and Kurt realizes that there are tears in her eyes too. “ _He_ did this,” she doesn’t look his way, but Kurt knows she’s talking about Blaine. “ _He_ started it, _he_ didn’t want us anymore. _He’s_ the one who fucking _left_.”

Kurt can feel his heartbeat speeding up, and he watches through narrowed eyes as she catches her breath.

“He abandoned us. All of us,” she spreads her arms wide. “He didn’t even _try_ , he just _left_ , and Dad tried to act like everything was okay, but we all knew it wasn’t! He walked out on us, and then after _months_ of barely speaking to us tried to walk back into our lives like it didn’t matter. Like he didn’t toss us all to the curb because he was fucking _bored_.”

Blaine looks up at her, tears streaming down his face. “What?” he asks. “Is that…”

“Hold on,” Sebastian puts a hand up. He turns to Jane then, and Kurt sees him swallow thickly before asking, “Jane, what are you talking about?”

“What do you mean?!” Jane’s arms fly into the air. “What am I talking about?! He left you! He left us! He didn’t want us anymore, and he just walked away! He didn’t try to fix it, didn’t even tell us what was wrong, he just left! Why are you acting like it doesn’t matter? Why do you keep defending him?! He fucked up this family, and now he’s back here and he has the nerve to act like a victim? Like he doesn’t know what he did?”

“Jane,” Sebastian puts a hand on her shoulder. “Jane,” he repeats. “That’s not what happened. You know that’s not what happened.”

“Yes, it is,” Roderick finally speaks up. He isn’t looking up, but he’s shaking as well. “It’s exactly what happened.”

“Kids…” Sebastian looks between them wildly, then runs his hand through his hair. “Oh, god. Is that what this has all been about? Why you’ve been so distant with your father? You… you think he left me?”

“He didn’t just leave you, he left _us_ ,” Roderick says. “We needed him, we loved him, and he just—” he stops talking, fists clenching, and looks toward the corner of the room.

Sebastian glances between them again, then takes a deep breath. To Kurt’s surprise, the person he turns to is him. “I owe you an apology.”

Kurt stares, incredulous. “You what?!”

“Yeah,” Sebastian says. “Because you’re right.” He takes another deep breath. “Blaine is my best friend, but I haven’t… I haven’t acted like it.”

“Stop _saying that_ ,” Roderick says. “You don’t have to keep pretending like everything is fine for us. You don’t have to keep lying to protect us. We’re adults, we understand that—”

“No, you don’t understand, if you think I’m lying.” Sebastian runs his hands over his face. “God, Blaine, I’m so sorry. I…” he shakes his head. “I had no idea they thought this. I didn’t—” he sighs, looking down. “I should have known. You _are_ my best friend, and I’ve known this was bothering you, but I didn’t try hard enough. I was scared they would start treating me the same way if I pushed too hard, so I just let them…” he sniffs. “It’s no excuse. I’m sorry.”

“Sebastian…”

“No,” Sebastian puts a hand up. “This has gone on too long. We can’t live like this. We’re a family, and it’s not right that two members of that family are so angry at another. Especially when the reason they’re angry isn’t even accurate.”

“We were _there_ ,” Jane says. “We lived this divorce just the same as you two.”

“No, clearly you weren’t, because the story you’re describing is… that’s another family’s story. That’s not us.”

“But—”

“Jane,” Marco speaks up, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Let your dad explain.”

Sebastian smiles at him softly, then says, “Jane, Roderick, your father didn’t leave us.”

“He _did_. He—”

“We got a divorce, and I thought you understood why. We explained why.”

“Oh, yeah,” Roderick scoffs. “That sentimental drivel about how you were better off as friends, how things weren’t going to change. Like we’re children, or something.”

“It wasn’t—” Sebastian sighs. “Kids, that’s the real reason we split up. We weren’t lying to you or trying to make you feel like children. We didn’t love each other anymore. We hadn’t for years, and it wasn’t fair for us to hold each other back.”

“But if that’s the case, then why did he _leave_? He just disappeared for _months_ , barely texted, barely said anything. He—”

“Sebastian,” Blaine finally says, wiping tears from his eyes. “He told me you needed space. That you were taking me moving out and our divorce harder than expected. I didn’t want to crowd you. I’m…” he glances between his children. “I’m sorry. I made the wrong choice. I should have made it clearer that I wasn’t leaving this family, that I still care so deeply about the two of you.”

“No, Blaine, _I_ made the wrong choice,” Sebastian says. “I never should have said that to you. I was… It was stupid. I should have asked the kids what they wanted instead of simply assuming they would need space.”

“I never intended to leave you,” Blaine says. “We… we wanted to end our marriage, but not our family. We didn’t want to become one of those divorced families that can barely stand each other. And, well, I didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose between us, because there was no side to choose.” He looks down. “It’s why I moved out. It’s why I didn’t offer to take either of you with me. I didn’t want to disrupt your routine, your life. But I guess…” he sighs. “I guess a divorce will do that no matter what.”

“But you were the one who wanted the divorce,” Jane says, though most of the heat has left her voice. “You were the one who pulled the plug. You were the one who—”

“Because of me,” Sebastian says. “Yes, your dad ended things, but he did it because he realized it was what I needed. Because he realized I’d fallen in love with someone else.”

At this, he reaches out and takes Marco’s hand. Marco smiles at him but says nothing.

“It was because of me that this happened,” Sebastian says. “I’m the reason we divorced, and I’m the reason for this misunderstanding. I’m so incredibly sorry. You should…” his shoulders slump. “You should be angry at me, not at Blaine.”

Everybody falls silent after Sebastian’s final admission. Kurt’s heart is slowing in his chest, anger seeping from his body. Blaine is still silently crying next to him, though he is no longer shaking. Kurt reaches over and slips his hand into Blaine’s wordlessly.

Suddenly, Roderick stands up. He glares at Sebastian for a moment, then walks away from the table.

“Roderick,” Sebastian calls out. “Roderick, get back here.”

“Let him go,” Jane says quietly.

“I can’t just let him walk away like that,” Sebastian says. “We’re having an important discussion.”

“Well, can you really blame him?” Jane asks, glaring at him as well. “You do realize you basically just told us that we’ve been dicks to our own father for almost two years over something that didn’t actually happen. I think he has a right to be upset.”

Sebastian sighs, slumping a little in his chair. “He still shouldn’t have just walked away. He owes his father an apology.”

“I think you all owe each other apologies,” Marco says, voice soft. “For a variety of reasons.”

Kurt’s defenses instantly raise again. “Now hold on a minute.”

“Kurt, it’s okay,” Blaine says, squeezing his hand. “He’s right. I shouldn’t have stopped talking to my kids for those months right after the divorce. I needed to apologize for that.”

“But you were just doing what you thought was right,” Kurt says, a little softer, just for Blaine.

“It doesn’t matter,” Blaine replies. “What good are good motives if the results are still bad?”

Marco nods. “And Jane?”

Jane shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I’m still processing. You kind of just threw a lot of information at me.”

“God, I’m sorry,” Sebastian says. “This is such a mess.”

“Yeah,” Jane says, still shaking her head. “It really, really is.”

Blaine looks down to where he and Kurt are holding hands, then says, “I think Kurt and I should go.”

“What?” Sebastian asks, just as Marco says, “No, Blaine, don’t go.”

Blaine, however, just nods decisively. “No, I really think we should. It’s been… a really crazy, emotional day. And like Jane, I think I need some time to process.”

“We shouldn’t leave these emotions stewing for too long,” Marco says. “It’s not healthy.”

Blaine nods. “I agree. So, let’s all get together sometime within the next 72 hours. Get it all out in the open. Does that… sound okay?”

Everyone glances at each other, then they all nod slowly. All except for Kurt, who knows that he will not be invited to that particular chat and is more than fine with that.

“I’ll text you with potential times,” Sebastian says.

Blaine smiles at him, then stands up. “I’ll get my dishes back when I come then?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Kurt stands with his boyfriend, still holding his hand. Everything about today has been so damn strange, but all he wants to focus on right now is helping his boyfriend feel better about it all.

“Um,” Blaine glances up at Roderick. “Tell him I said goodbye, okay?”

“We will,” Marco says.

Blaine gives him one last nod, then says, “Alright, well. I’ll see you all soon,” and waves gently. Kurt can tell that he’s completely drained, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the first thing Blaine does when they get back to his apartment is fall asleep on the couch.

They head to the front door together. Kurt feels like they’re forgetting something but knows it’s just because they’ve left the huge duffle bag here. He doesn’t say anything though, knowing he’ll get it back eventually.

Just before they reach the front door, the sound of a chair scraping back against the floor sounds out, along with a loud, “Wait!”

Jane rounds the corner in an instant, appearing before them with wide eyes.

“I, uh,” she stares at Blaine, lips parted. She licks them, then says, “I’m a mess right now, and I can’t really think straight, and I’m sorry I can’t apologize for everything right now, but I…” she clears her throat, then says, “I’m sorry for the things I said on the anniversary of Grandpa’s death.”

Blaine inhales sharply next to Kurt and clutches his hand tighter.

When he doesn’t respond, Jane continues. “I was so out of line, and I’ve honestly felt bad about it for weeks, but I didn’t…” she shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. No matter what I thought you did, or what I thought about you, I still shouldn’t have said those things. They were beyond shitty, and just really, really uncalled for. I’m sorry, Dad.”

Blaine nods, and Kurt can see that there are tears in his eyes once more.

“Thank you, Jane,” he says, smiling softly. “I… I forgive you.”

She stares at him for a moment, her own eyes becoming wet. She wraps her arms around herself, then nods, smiles, and turns around. 

For a moment, Kurt expected her to reach out and hug Blaine, but he supposes it’s still too soon for that.

Blaine watches her go, taking in a couple of deep breaths. Kurt turns to him and asks, “You ready to go?”

Blaine takes in another deep breath, then looks up at him and whispers, “Yes, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/182533119745/unexpected-2124)


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody!! I'm so, so sorry for how long it's taken to get this chapter up, but I have good news -- this fic is now completely written!!!!!!!!!! I will posting the last two chapters by the end of the week! :D 
> 
> Also, I want to apologize in advance to those of you who really wanted to see the conversation between Blaine and his family. Because this fic is from Kurt's POV, I simply couldn't figure out a logical reason for Kurt to be present during the conversation. I hope that what I've done is good enough! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and see you soon!! <3

Blaine starts crying the moment they reach his apartment. He falls onto his couch, Kurt following him quickly, and spends the next hour crying into Kurt’s shoulder.

As he cries, he talks. Random, unfinished thoughts, nothing that Kurt feels require answers.

He just holds his boyfriend and allows him to process everything about their very emotionally draining day.

After a while, Blaine finally stops crying. His sobs turn to sniffles, and then to soft sighs.

Finally, he looks up at Kurt and says, “I really want ice cream.”

Kurt smiles down at him. “You want me to get you some?”

Blaine nods. “Two scoops, please? There should be some vanilla in the freezer.”

Kurt presses a kiss to the top of his head, then walks into the kitchen to serve two bowls of ice cream for them.

When he comes back in, he places the bowls and spoons in front of them on the coffee table, then settles back down next to Blaine.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

Blaine sighs deeply, then picks up his bowl and says, “Better, I think.”

Kurt looks down at his own bowl, then says, “I’m sorry. About… well, about everything.” He leans his head on Blaine’s shoulder. “I’m sorry today was so shitty, and I’m sorry that I made it worse by yelling at Sebastian. It wasn’t my place,” he presses his lips together tightly. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Maybe,” Blaine says, then wraps an arm around his shoulder. “But I’m glad you did.”

Kurt looks up at Blaine, smiling cautiously. “Yeah?”

Blaine nods. “Yeah,” he says, sticking a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. “It’s good that everything is out in the open now.”

Kurt wraps his arm around Blaine’s middle, then presses a kiss to his shoulder. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“And you’re a sap,” Blaine teases.

“Maybe so,” Kurt replies, smiling. He kisses Blaine’s shoulder again, then asks, “Do you want me to stay? Or do you want to be alone for a while?”

Blaine’s arm tightens around his shoulders and he quietly whispers, “Stay.”

Kurt nods and tucks himself further into Blaine’s side.

**

Sebastian asks Blaine to come over on Saturday after lunch for a family conversation. He specifically requests that Kurt not come along.

“I wasn’t going to anyway,” Kurt says, shrugging when Blaine tells him.

“Okay,” Blaine says, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “It’s not because of what you said, though,” he says. “Marco isn’t going to be part of it either.”

“Blaine, it’s okay,” Kurt smiles at him. “I’m not offended, I promise.”

Blaine nods. “Okay,” he repeats. He’s silent for a few moments, then asks, “Can I come to your place after? To… I don’t know, decompress?”

“Always,” Kurt says, pulling him in for a kiss.

**

After Blaine leaves for Sebastian’s house, Kurt distracts himself with a bit of marking and by starting to prepare his final exams. He’s not giving his seminar classes one, so he only really has to prepare two exams, and since he teaches Popular Music every year, he has a large pool of questions he can draw from.

Which means that planning his exams doesn’t work too well as a distraction.

He ends up giving up after about an hour and pulls up Netflix on his TV. Even still, though, he finds his eyes wandering to his front door every other minute, wondering when Blaine will walk through.

It’s over three hours later when Blaine finally returns. He unlocks the door with the spare key Kurt gave him, cautious and slow. He knocks as well, peeking his face through the doorway.

“I gave you a key so you could come in, Blaine,” Kurt says, switching off the television.

Blaine ducks his head, smiling, then comes in the rest of the way, clicking the door shut quietly behind him, already toeing off his winter boots. “Just trying to be polite.”

Kurt smiles up at him, then pats the spot next to him on the sofa. Blaine hurries over, pulling his winter gear off as he comes, and draping it over one of the chairs by Kurt’s table. Once he’s free of them, he settles in next to Kurt on the couch.

Kurt immediately brings a hand up to the nape of his neck, rubbing him there gently. “How did it go?”

Blaine sighs, letting himself sag into the couch. “It went…” he trails off, eyes fluttering shut. He exhales long, then simply says, “It went.”

Kurt bites down on his bottom lip, then asks, “Do you not want to talk about it? Because we can just watch TV, or, I don’t know, have sex or something.”

Blaine chuckles and opens his eyes, immediately looking up at Kurt. “I do want to talk about it,” he says. “And after that we can have sex.”

Kurt smiles, thumb rubbing circles over Blaine’s nape. “Deal,” he says.

“God,” Blaine rubs a hand over his face. “I don’t even know where to start. I feel like we talked for years.”

“In a good way?” Kurt asks.

Blaine shrugs, closing his eyes again. “I hope so. I mean, I feel hopeful about it? But it’s all so complicated right now.”

“How so?”

“Well, for starters I’m angrier at Sebastian than I thought I’d be.”

Kurt tells the part of himself that’s pleased by that fact to shut up. “Explain.”

“He just…” Blaine groans. “He basically repeated what he said at Thanksgiving, but now that I’d had time to think about it and process it really hit me how shitty it was. Like, I’ve never stopped to really think about it, but the fact that he always refused to talk to the kids about why they were so mad at me because he was worried, they’d get mad at him too is so…” he takes in a deep breath, then mumbles, “selfish.”

“I agree,” Kurt says quietly.

“And I kept thinking about what you said, about how he hadn’t been acting like a good friend. He said it, too, and he apologized a lot about it, but it still just feels… I don’t know.” Blaine opens his eyes, wincing a little. “We decided to give each other some space. It feels like we need it.”

Kurt presses his lips together but doesn’t say anything.

Blaine rolls his eyes, “You can be happy about it, Kurt.”

Kurt shrugs, then says, “I just don’t want it to seem like I’m happy because I’m jealous of your relationship. I’d be happy about this if something similar happened with any friend. You deserve to have people in your life who will treat you with as much respect and kindness as you treat them. That’s all.”

Blaine looks up at him, eyes becoming slightly wet. “You’re too good to me.”

“Impossible,” Kurt says. He leans over and kisses Blaine on the cheek. “What about your kids?”

Blaine groans again, head falling back against the backrest. “Still complicated.” He shakes his head a little. “Jane is really struggling with the guilt of how she’s treated me over the past few years. And it’s good, but I’m worried she won’t be able to forgive herself as easily as I’ve forgiven her.”

Kurt frowns. “You’ve forgiven her already?”

Blaine nods. “Of course. She’s my daughter.”

“Well, yeah, but if my dad did something like that to me I don’t think I’d be able to forgive him that fast.”

“That’s different,” Blaine says. “ _I’m_ the father. It’s…” he shrugs. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Okay,” Kurt whispers. “I… I don’t get it, but I’ll try. Keep going?”

Blaine nods. “Anyway, she was very open today about wanting to try and rekindle our relationship. Slowly, of course. But like I said, I don’t know if she’ll ever truly be able to forgive herself for all this, and I don’t like that. We should be allowed to make mistakes without having to feel guilty about them forever.”

Kurt wants to tell Blaine that this feels like more than just your run-of-the-mill mistake, but he keeps silent. Fatherhood is something he has no experience in; his opinion is less important in this situation.

“And Roderick?” he asks instead.

“Roderick is still angry, except now he feels that he has no right to be, which makes him even angrier.” Blaine sighs. “He’s just as angry at Sebastian now, though, so that’s something.”

“But he’s still angry at you?” Kurt asks, confused. “Even after what Sebastian said?”

“It’s misdirected,” Blaine says. “From what he said – well, screamed – it seems like he still doesn’t fully understand why we got divorced. He doesn’t get why we split up, why we couldn’t have tried falling back in love, or even just staying together as friends for the sake of him and Jane. I think…” he looks off for a moment. “I think he thinks we were being selfish by getting a divorce, because it was all about us. We didn’t take their feelings into consideration.” He looks down at his lap. “He’s not wrong.”

“Blaine, don’t—”

“I’m not being self-deprecating, Kurt,” Blaine says, shrugging slightly. “It’s the truth. We just assumed that because we would still be friends and still be in each other’s lives that our divorce wouldn’t affect our children. We didn’t take them into account. It _was_ selfish, and it was wrong.”

Kurt can feel his heart beating wildly against his chest. “Do… do you regret it? Now that you know?”

Blaine looks up at him quickly. “ _No_ ,” he says. “Not the divorce, not for one minute.”

“But, what your son said, what you’re saying…”

“Kurt,” Blaine turns so that he’s facing Kurt, then leans forward and grabs his hands. “Me being able to admit that I wasn’t a wonderful father during this whole process does not mean that I would take it all back. Yes, I would love to be able to back and deal with this better. I wouldn’t leave them for all those months like I did, and I would make sure that Sebastian and I were clearer with our kids about what was going on. But I don’t regret divorcing him, and I never will. I can’t.” He smiles up at Kurt. “If I hadn’t, I might never have met you.”

Kurt ducks his head, butterflies swirling through his stomach. “For what it’s worth,” he says. “I’m glad you did.”

“Me too,” Blaine assures, rubbing his thumbs over Kurt’s palms.

Kurt tries to tamp down his smile as he asks, “What are you going to do about Roderick?”

Blaine sighs. “Try. Slowly, of course. I want to give him space and let him be angry, but I also don’t want him to feel like I’m abandoning him again. I’m not totally sure how I’m going to find that balance, but I’m going to figure it out.” He focuses his eyes on their hands. “I think it’s all I really can do at this point.”

Kurt nods. “I can help you figure it out, if you’d like.”

Blaine smiles up at him. “I would love that.”

Kurt leans forward and presses a quick kiss to his lips. “So,” he says. “Taking some space from Sebastian, working things through with Jane, trying with Roderick.”

Blaine nods slowly. “Yeah, that sums it up.”

“Do you want to keep talking about it? We can brainstorm ways to not overwhelm Roderick, or…”

“Kurt,” Blaine grins, leaning back in. “You’re wonderful.”

Kurt can feel his cheeks heating up.

“But,” Blaine squeezes his hands. “I think I’m all good on the debrief and am ready to be distracted.”

“Okay,” Kurt says. Blaine wiggles his eyebrows, then closes the small gap between them and presses their lips together firmly. Kurt responds eagerly, more than happy to have Blaine kiss the breath right out of him. “Oh,” he manages when Blaine breaks the kiss. “That kind of distraction, huh?”

“Hey, it was your idea.”

Kurt kisses Blaine softly, then stands up, dragging Blaine up by the hand. “And you’re very welcome for it,” he says before dragging Blaine into his bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/182898428875/unexpected-2224)


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last official chapter of the fic, as the final one (which will be posted within the next few days) is technically an epilogue and quite short. I hope you enjoy, and I will see you all very soon!!!

The final two weeks of the semester fly by. Blaine seems to have a billion assignments to complete before exam season begins, and Kurt has even more assignments to mark.

They don’t get to spend as much time together as Kurt would like, as the small amount of free time that Blaine has, he dedicates to his children. He gets coffee with Jane and has surprisingly long conversations with Roderick on the phone (though not in person just yet).

As much as Kurt would like to have a little more of Blaine’s time, he knows that this is only temporary. Once exams are over, Blaine will have far more free time, and will be able to divide it more evenly among Kurt and his family. For now, Kurt doesn’t mind taking the backseat.

Besides, it’s not exactly a bad thing to not be as connected during the last few weeks of the semester. Mercedes is definitely on to them, and he doesn’t need to give anybody else a reason to suspect. Not when they’re so close to being able to be together without breaking any rules.

On the final day of classes, Kurt stays behind in his office to fill in Blaine’s, Mercedes’s, and Tina’s TA evaluation forms. He praises all three, more than happy with their performances during the semester. For the most part, their evaluations are identical, as he felt all three performed their TA duties extraordinarily well.

The only difference comes in the end of the evaluation. Where he ticks that he’d be willing to work with Mercedes and Tina again next semester, he does not do so for Blaine. In the comments section he makes up some bullshit about how he feels that, with Blaine’s age and experience, he would be an asset to all kinds of other professors, and it would be selfish to try and hog him. He hopes it’ll work, because he doesn’t think he could take another semester of keeping his relationship with Blaine a secret.

“Hey,” the single word is followed by two short knocks on the door, and Kurt looks up to see Blaine smiling from his doorway. “I thought you might still be here.”

Kurt gestures to his desk. “I was just finishing your evaluation forms.”

“Oh?” Blaine raises an eyebrow and then asks, voice far too breathy, “How’d I do, professor?”

Kurt’s heart skips a beat and his pants tighten a little, just as they always do when Blaine pulls out the innocent student act.

“That’s confidential,” Kurt replies with a sly wink.

Blaine’s lips curve up into a smirk. “I bet I could get it out of you.”

Kurt’s pants tighten just a little bit more, and he clears his throat before saying, “I’ll have you know that I take my evaluation confidentiality very seriously, Mr. Anderson.”

“Sounds like a challenge,” Blaine raises an eyebrow. “You know I can’t resist those.”

Kurt’s cheeks redden and he glances behind Blaine. Seeing nobody he whispers, “Do you have the time to rise to said challenge?”

Blaine grins. “No plans until tomorrow at noon.”

Kurt doesn’t think he’s ever gotten his things together as fast in his life.

**

“Come on,” Blaine whispers wickedly, hips swiveling sinfully. “Tell me what you wrote.”

Kurt’s hands tighten on Blaine’s waist, trying to get him to stop torturing him and fucking move already. “I told you,” he says, breath coming out harsh as Blaine finally raises slightly on his cock. “That’s confident—ah!” His head falls back against his pillow as Blaine lowers himself back on his cock.

“Please, professor?” Blaine asks, pouting his lips as he continues fucking himself on Kurt’s cock lazily. “I’ll do anything to know.”

Kurt’s fingernails dig into Blaine’s side. “I think you already are,” he manages to say.

Blaine grins. “Come on,” he lowers himself down until he’s chest-to-chest with Kurt, lips a breath away, hard cock trapped between their bellies. “Tell me.”

“Oh my god,” Kurt bucks his hips up. “You’re incorrigible.”

“You know you want to,” Blaine says, grinding his hips down.

Kurt takes a deep breath and then, with all the strength he can muster, flips them over until Blaine’s back is against the blankets and he’s on top.

Blaine stares up at him, eyes wide, pupils blown.

“I told you,” Kurt says, starting to fuck Blaine at a much quicker pace than Blaine was allowing before. “That’s confidential.”

“Jesus,” Blaine groans, arms coming to Kurt’s back.

Kurt grins and fucks Blaine in earnest. They’ve been at this for almost half an hour already, and he feels ready to burst from Blaine’s lazy teasing. He reaches down and wraps his hand around Blaine’s cock, determined to make him come first, even after all of that.

“That’s not fair,” Blaine says. “I was supposed to – ungh,” the worlds garble in his throat as Kurt twists his hand over the head of his cock.

Kurt presses himself as deeply into Blaine as he can, then grins and says, “Serves you right for torturing me like that.”

Blaine gasps and says, “You loved it.”

Kurt stares down at him, eyes wide as the words _I love you_ float through his mind. He presses his lips together, then starts fucking Blaine even faster, hand a blur over his boyfriend’s cock.

It takes less than a minute for Blaine to come after that, and the feeling of his clenching around Kurt’s dick makes Kurt follow suit shortly after.

They’re both sticky messes as Kurt collapses on top of Blaine, cock slipping from his hole as he does. He rolls over slightly but remains close enough to rest his head on Blaine’s heaving chest.

“Jesus,” Blaine repeats. Kurt looks up and finds him staring up at the ceiling. “You’re – Jesus.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d call myself _Jesus_ , but…”

Blaine shakes his head, but says, “I’m too fucked out to even get mad at you for saying that.”

Kurt grins up at him. “So, I win?”

“Was it a competition?” Blaine asks.

“Well,” Kurt trails his fingers over Blaine’s chest. “You did say you could fuck the evaluation results out of me, and instead you came first _and_ called me Jesus, so…”

Blaine just laughs and says, “Alright, fine. You definitely win.”

Kurt rests his head back on Blaine’s chest, pressing a soft kiss there. “I love winning.”

Blaine brings his hand up to Kurt’s hair, and Kurt takes the moment to quickly slip the condom off his dick, tying it without looking and probably making an absolute mess of it. He tosses it behind him, also without looking, then focuses on the way that Blaine is running his hand through his hair.

“I know you do,” Blaine finally says, and to Kurt, it sounds like an _I love you, too_.

**

Only four students take the full two hours to complete Kurt’s (ridiculously easy, if he does say so himself) Popular Music final. Tina has been on her phone for the past half hour, glancing up occasionally to make sure that the single student in her section doesn’t need help, and Mercedes keeps staring at the clock as if that’ll make the time go faster.

Blaine is just staring at Kurt, eyes hungry, and it makes Kurt want to grab the exams off the student’s desks and force them out of there so that Blaine can fuck him up against one of those desks.

He, of course, manages to refrain.

His timer finally goes off, announcing the end of the full two hours, and his TA’s go and grab the exams from the final students. They wish them good luck on any remaining exams as well as a good Christmas break, and then finally, _finally_ , the exam is done.

Kurt grins up at Blaine, who grins back.

“Well, that was spectacularly boring,” Mercedes says, stretching her arms over her head. “Do any of you want to celebrate that all we have left to do is correct these exams by getting some coffee?”

Tina says yes, but Blaine says, “Sorry, Mercedes, but I already have plans with my boyfriend.”

“Yeah,” Kurt says after a few moments. “I do, too. With my boyfriend, not with Blaine’s boyfriend.”

Blaine chuckles and sends him a covert wink.

Mercedes rolls her eyes at the two of them, while Tina whispers, “See, I told you they weren’t going out.”

Kurt shakes his head and grabs his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s drop these off at my office, and then we can all get the hell out of here.”

**

That evening, as they fall asleep together in Blaine’s bed, Kurt whispers, “Just a few more weeks and we don’t have to hide this anymore.”

Blaine hums. “You sure? I mean, won’t people be suspicious that—”

“Blaine,” Kurt says, placing a firm hand on his chest. “We’re adults, and as soon as we mark all those exams, you’ll no longer be my TA. You aren’t even technically a student in my department.” He kisses Blaine’s cheek. “We won’t have to hide this anymore.”

Blaine sighs contently, wraps his arm around Kurt and pulls him closer. “In that case,” he says, voice gaining back its sleepiness, “I can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/182937074050/unexpected-2324)


	24. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've finally reached the end of this fic!!!! Thank you so much to everybody who has stuck around and encouraged me so much with this story. I love you forever and ever <3 Hope to see you all the next time around ;)

“Here,” Burt Hummel holds a neatly wrapped present out, one eyebrow raised ever so slightly as he does. “This one’s for you.”

Kurt smiles at the shock and awe on Blaine’s face as he asks, “Me?”

“Of course,” Carole says, hands wrapped tightly around a mug of coffee, a kind smile on her face.

“Don’t act so surprised,” Burt says, still holding the present out. “You got us something.”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Blaine,” Kurt places his hand on his boyfriend’s thigh. “Just accept the present.”

Blaine blushes as he reaches forward and takes the present from Kurt’s father. He unwraps it carefully, revealing a gorgeous cashmere scarf. “Oh, my.” He holds the scarf up in front of him, eyes wide. “It—”

“Matches your eyes,” Burt finishes. “Yeah, I know. Carole made Kurt send us a picture.”

Blaine wraps the scarf around his neck, even though it doesn’t really go with his outfit, then smiles out at them and says, “Thank you,” with so much sincerity it nearly melts Kurt’s heart.

“Don’t mention it,” Burt says, already heading back to the tree to grab a present with his own name on it.

“Really, Blaine,” Carole says. “It was nothing. At least compared to your gifts.”

She holds the mug up, engraved with a golden ‘C’. Blaine’s cheeks redden further.

“Mine were just knick-knacks,” he murmurs. “This is—” he fingers the material lightly. “Really,” he says, looking back up at Carole. “Thank you.”

She smiles, then says. “Well, you’re very welcome Blaine.”

Kurt grins as he watches his parents and boyfriend interact, heart warm. As much as he was sure that Blaine and his parents would get along, it was impossible to truly know until they were face to face. Thankfully, his instincts were correct. Carole and Blaine got on like a house on fire, and Burt loved finally having somebody to talk about football with.

They all exchange their final gifts, after which Burt disappears into the kitchen to do God knows what.

Blaine chats with Carole for a few minutes, but then seems to notice the time and says, “I’m very sorry, but I have to head out.”

“So soon?” Carole asks.

Blaine winces, so Kurt says, “I told you that Blaine couldn’t stay all day, remember? He’s having his kids over for dinner.”

“Still a lot to prepare,” Blaine says quietly.

“Well, would you like any help with anything?” Carole asks, but Blaine is already shaking his head.

“No, it’ll be fine. But thank you,” he replies, standing up.

“What, hey, you’re heading out?” Burt asks as he walks back into the living room.

“Yeah, I still have a lot to do before my kids come over for dinner,” Blaine says, a little more confident this time.

“Right,” Burt nods. “Well, don’t be a stranger, okay? We definitely want to see you again before we head home.”

“Of course,” Blaine agrees easily. “It would be my pleasure.”

Burt shakes his hand after that, and Carole wraps him in a tight hug. Then, as they turn back to their recently received presents, Kurt walks Blaine to the door.

“You going to be okay?” Kurt asks, voice quiet enough for his parents not to hear.

Blaine takes in a deep breath. He’s been nervous about this ever since Jane suggested it, especially once she confirmed that Roderick was open to attending as well.

“It’ll be good,” Blaine says. He smiles cautiously. “I’m trying to be positive.”

“Good,” Kurt replies, rubbing his hands up and down Blaine’s arms. “I’m sure it’ll be wonderful.”

Blaine nods, then leans forward and presses a quick kiss to Kurt’s lips.

When he pulls away, Kurt says, “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Of course,” Blaine replies, then kisses Kurt once more.

After two more kisses, he finally says goodbye and heads out the door, leaving Kurt staring lovestruck at his figure retreating down the hall.

“Hey, Kurt,” he hears his dad calling, so closes the door behind him and heads back to the living room.

“Yeah?” he asks, sitting back down on the couch.

“So,” Carole grins. “Blaine is cute.”

“Real stand-up guy,” Burt says. “I really respect that he’s having his kids over for dinner instead of just spending all day with us.”

Kurt smiles at the compliments. “He’s amazing,” he says. “I’m kind of crazy about him.”

Carole chuckles, exchanging a sly glance with Burt. “We can tell,” she says with a wink.

“Just one thing, though,” Burt says, holding a finger up. “I don’t believe that you’ve only been dating a few months.”

“What?” Kurt frowns.

“Yeah, I mean, how at ease you are around each other? No way.”

Kurt shrugs, smile returning. “What can I say? We fit. It feels right with him.”

Carole elbows Burt gently and says, “You and I were like that when we got together, too.”

“Well, yeah, but we weren’t exactly spring chickens,” Burt replies.

Carole raises an eyebrow and replies, “Neither are they.”

Burt grunts, then shrugs his acknowledgement. He then turns back to Kurt and says, “Okay, so now we’ve met Blaine, we approve of him, we think you’re wonderful together and would love for him to join our family,” Carole elbows him again, and Kurt chuckles. “So now will you finally tell us about how you two met?”

“Yes, please,” Carole brings her hands together pleadingly. “We’ve been dying to know!”

Kurt smiles, glancing between them, then settles further into the couch and says, “Well, it’s kind of a funny story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/182982949730/unexpected-2424)


End file.
